Patient opinions regarding surgeon presence, trainee participation, and overlapping surgery

OBJECTIVES To explore patient opinions and underlying values regarding overlapping surgery (OS) scenarios, specifically evaluating the effect of attending surgeon presence and availability, as well as trainee participation on patient comfort level and willingness to consent. STUDY DESIGN Mixed methods. METHODS Forty adults participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews included vignettes involving three scenarios of OS (1: attending present; 2: attending absent for wound closure; 3: attending absent and unavailable for wound closure, with covering attending), visual analog scale ratings of participants' comfort with scenarios, and cognitive debriefing. Themes and subthemes were identified using hierarchical coding of transcripts, and quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted. RESULTS Quantitative analysis revealed anticipated decreases in comfort with decreasing attending presence/availability (mean comfort level 94% vs. 78% vs. 63% for scenarios 1 vs. 2 vs. 3, P