[Stomach surgery--are the requirements for specialist in general surgery still realistic?]

This paper discusses the possibility for a surgical trainee to acquire the necessary experience in gastric operations for his fellowship in general surgery. All operations of the stomach performed at the surgical unit of Lucerne Hospital between January 1994 and September 1997 were analysed retrospectively. Of 184 operations performed only nine were done by a trainee, four of which were gastrostomies and five operations of a perforated ulcer. These results prove the difficulties for a trainee to achieve the required number of operations. Possible solutions would be the acknowledgement of assisted operations for the fellowship in general surgery and/or the limitation of gastric operations performed by the trainee himself to the curriculum for the fellowship in visceral surgery.