Analysis: Surgical Practice Changes Warrant Residency Reforms

• Surgical training should expand to include additional skills, such as the use of ultrasound for better diagnosis of conditions in breast, endocrine, vascular, and trauma diseases and the use of interventional catheter techniques for the diagnosis or treatment of a variety of conditions.

It’s not possible to reverse the changes that have occurred over the past 2 decades, and in fact the workweek could see further shortening, as has happened in Europe, the investigators noted. "The most effective way in which to address the changes is therefore to look at the things which can be changed in resident training, the many areas in which improvements in resident teaching are possible, and the areas in which residents’ capabilities could be productively expanded."

The investigators did not report any conflicts of interest.