The impact of pediatric surgery training on the attitudes and practice patterns of general surgeons

In order to evaluate how experience in pediatric surgery during residency training affects attitudes and practice patterns of general surgeons, questionnaires were sent to the 51 residents who graduated from our general surgical residency program since the establishment of a Section of Pediatric Surgery in 1974. There were 51 respondents (100%) of whom 50 were male and 1 female. Three were pediatric surgeons and their responses to the questionnaire were not included in the analysis. During the past year, 29 of the respondents had performed from 2 to 55 pediatric operations, with a mean of 23.7. Most of these were herniorrhaphies, appendectomies, and sub-specialty cases. Thirty-two of the 48 respondents referred most pediatric cases to a board certified pediatric surgeon nearby. Ninety-two percent of the respondents indicated that pediatric surgery rotations were of great value in their training (6.3 mean response on a scale of 7) and 92% felt that pediatric surgery was a necessary part of a general surgery training program. Respondents had a mean exposure of 1.8 mo to pediatric surgery as junior residents, and 2.1 mo as senior residents; 90% felt that their operative experience was good to excellent (5.5 mean on a scale of 7). Most respondents felt qualified to do many more pediatric procedures than they actually performed; however, their perception was that these cases were best done by fully trained pediatric surgeons. The 51 graduates of our general surgical residency program considered pediatric surgery an important factor in the development of their technical skills and surgical judgment.