Early Career Focus Among General Surgery Residents Pursuing Vascular Surgery Fellowship: A Multi-Institutional Study...

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Vascular Surgery
• Graduate Medical Training

Background:

• General surgery (GS) residents increasingly focus on operations aligning with their future subspecialty.
• Early specialization trends among GS residents pursuing vascular surgery (VS) fellowships require examination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the operative case volume and type differences between GS residents pursuing VS fellowship and their peers.
• To assess the extent of early specialization in vascular surgery during general surgery residency.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the US Resident OPerative Experience (ROPE) Consortium, including 20 ACGME-accredited GS programs.
• Compared case volumes and types between GS residents entering VS fellowship and other residents.
• Employed Cohen's d statistic to evaluate effect sizes for observed differences.

Main Results:

• 10.1% of 1343 GS residents pursued VS fellowship between 2010-2020.
• VS-bound residents performed significantly more total major vascular cases (d=1.81, large effect).
• VS-bound residents had higher volumes in both surgeon chief (d=0.76, moderate) and junior (d=1.00, large) roles.

Conclusions:

• General surgery residents specializing in vascular surgery achieve greater operative experience in vascular procedures.
• Significant differences in case volumes, including chief and junior roles, suggest early career focus in residency.