The Importance of Autonomy

Abstract

Providing autonomy to surgical residents in the operating room is important in creating confidence that will allow a successful transition to independent operating post-graduation. Despite this goal, however, only 20% of general surgery residents feel prepared to operate independently, and only about one-third demonstrate “near-independence” doing many common procedures when assessed in the final half year of their training. ¹ Coleman J.J. Esposito T.J. Rozycki G.S. Feliciano D.V. Early subspecialization and perceived competence in surgical training: Are residents ready?. J Am Coll Surg. 2012; 216 : 764-771 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (131) Google Scholar ^{, 2} George B.C. Bohnen J.D. Williams R.G. et al. Readiness of US general surgery residents for independent practice. Ann Surg. 2017; 266 : 582-594 Crossref PubMed Scopus (80) Google Scholar While there may be a myriad of reasons that we, as surgical educators, are not providing this autonomy to our trainees (residency work hour restrictions, increasing patient loads, or institutional expectations of surgical providers), the authors of this report highlight the limited understanding of surgical resident involvement in patient care that many patients have. ³ Dickinson K.J. Bass B.L. Nguyen D.T. et al. Public perceptions of general surgery resident autonomy and supervision. J Am Coll Surg. 2021; 232 : 8-15 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (1) Google Scholar This factor may be an additional roadblock to provision of this independence to our trainees, and it demonstrates the need for increasing education for patients being treated in centers with surgical residencies.