Search

A prior study that examined the operative experience of general surgery residents in endocrine surgery for the academic years 1986–1987 to 1993–1994 found this training to be inadequate due to low operative volume. To evaluate how the development of minimally invasive endocrine surgery might alter this outcome, we reviewed more recent data from the Resident Statistic Summaries (Report C) of the Residency Review Committee from 1994–1995 to 2003–2004. The main outcome measures were total number of residents and programs and the volume and distribution of operations performed. For adrenalectomy, the average number of cases per resident was 1.46; for endocrine pancreas, the average was 0.14. The most common number of any of these procedures performed by U.S. graduates was zero. Reports from postgraduate training in laparoscopic or endocrine surgery suggest that these fellowships may provide the necessary additional operative experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]