More students shun general surgery

The pending shortage is leading a drive to increase recruitment.

By Damon Adams, amednews staff. April 8, 2002.

Medical school students are less interested in becoming general surgeons these days.

Turning them off are the extra years of training followed by a future filled with exhausting work hours and less time for a personal life.

Studies in the March issue of the Archives of Surgery show that the number of applicants to general surgery residency programs has dropped 30% during the last nine years. One of the studies, "Contemporary Trends in Student Selection of Medical Specialties," projects that by 2005 only 4.8% of U.S. graduating medical students will be interested in general surgery -- likely leading to a shortage.

"Our data confirm that perceived threats to lifestyle remain an important factor influencing the career choice of medical students," wrote Kirby I. Bland, MD, lead author of the "Contemporary Trends" study and chair of the University of Alabama at Birmingham department of surgery.

The studies said lifestyle issues are taking priority when medical students select a career path. Students are considering factors such as length of residency, unpredictable work hours, family matters and number of hours on call. Medical school graduates seek to strike a better balance between their work and personal lives, and residents with families want more time to spend at home. [...]

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