Current status and future perspective of general surgical trainees in the Netherlands

The opinions of general surgical trainees about their current training program and their future career plans are important because such information can inform any redesign of surgical training programs as well as future surgical manpower planning.

A structured questionnaire was sent to 392 general surgical trainees in the Netherlands in 2005.

A total of 239 (61%) questionnaires were returned by 66 (28%) women and 173 (72%) men, mean age 31.3 years. On average, trainees worked in the hospital 55 hours per week (range: 22-80 h). The mean number of operative cases performed per year was 195 (range 35-450), and this had been stable since the year 2000. The quality of the supervision by staff surgeons was rated satisfactory. The vast majority of the trainees are also satisfied with the current single year of differentiation/specialized training into one of the subspecialties, although most trainees (83%) would like to enroll in a fellowship before taking a job as a consultant. There was also a desire to take maternity/paternity leave during training. Both male and female trainees expressed the wish to work an average of 52 hours per week as a consultant, and they want these hours to occur in 4.1 days of work per week.

Dutch general surgery trainees are satisfied with their training. They expressed a strong wish for specialization during and after their training. All trainees favored reduced working hours and days of work per week as fully qualified surgeons in the future.