The stresses of the surgical residency

Concern over resident work hours prompted us to study the stress of surgical residencies and determine if the experience might be associated with an increased use of alcohol and drugs. Two hundred fifty-seven surgery residents were selected from a stratified, randomized sample of residents (n = 1728) from the AMA files and were given an eight-page self-administered questionnaire.

Surgical residents reported very long hours and heavy duties and complained of loss of sleep and exhaustion, both of which correlated with nights on call. Despite the heavier work load, surgical residents showed no more emotional stress than other residents. Surgery residents were more likely to have used alcohol in the last month than other residents (P less than .05) but 70% had used it fewer than 10 times in the month. All surgical residents were less likely to have used marijuana, cocaine, or other drugs than were other residents. Surgical residents seem to cope well with the extreme stresses of surgery training programs; however, more research needs to be done if we are to fully understand the process for training surgeons.