[Should residents operate?]

Surgical training requires that residents have the opportunity to operate. This tradition has now become complicated for teaching surgeons due to work surcharge, to the objective of reducing health costs, and to medical lawsuits. We support the necessity for residents to operate because academic hospitals have a moral and legal obligation to train future surgeons. This objective should be achieved without impairing the quality of care provided, and this must be explained to patients. More widely, the management of surgical training for residents should be rethought to maintain efficiency.