Biomedical subjects

F Kwakwa

Publications and source records attributed to F Kwakwa.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

The longitudinal study of surgical residents, 1994 to 1996.

BACKGROUND: The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has conducted a detailed annual survey of residents enrolled in surgical graduate medical education (GME) programs since 1982 and has regularly published the resulting data as the Longitudinal Study of Surgical Residents. This report documents surgical resident enrollment and graduation for the academic years 1994-95 and 1995-96. STUDY DESIGN: The Medical Education Research and Information Database of the American Medical Association was supplemented by the existing ACS Resident Masterfile and by personal contact with program directors and their staffs to verify accuracy and completeness of reporting. Each resident was tracked individually through surgical GME. RESULTS: The total number of surgical residents graduating from surgical GME in 1995 and 1996 has not changed since 1982. Most graduates of surgical residency programs are in obstetrics and gynecology, followed by general surgery; demographic analysis of the graduating cohort shows that most are Caucasian male graduates of US or Canadian medical schools, and that their age at graduation is 33 to 35 years. International medical graduates (IMG) make up 8.9% of entering surgical residents and 6% of graduates. Osteopathic medical school graduates account for 1.2% to 1.3% of entering and graduating surgical residents. Women represent 27% of entering and 23% to 24% of graduates of surgical GME. The largest number and proportion of women in surgical GME are enrolled in obstetrics and gynecology residency programs, where they make up the majority of entering and graduating classes. When all other surgical residency program enrollments are considered together, women make up 17% and 16% of entering residents in 1994 and 1995, respectively, and 13% and 14% of graduates in those years. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical GME enrollment and graduation is stable. Few women and ethnic minorities are enrolled in surgical residency programs. IMG enrollment and graduation in surgical GME is low.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Attrition in graduate surgical education: an analysis of the 1993 entering cohort of surgical residents.

BACKGROUND: Pyramidal surgical residency programs, in which more residents are enrolled than can complete the program, have gradually declined in number in recent years. In 1996, the Residency Review Committee for Surgery established a policy that the number of residents appointed to a program must be consistent with the number who will complete the program. Even so, there is still attrition in the ranks of surgical residents, some of whom hold undesignated preliminary positions and have no guarantee of a position that will lead to completion of the program. This study examined the 1993 entering cohort of surgical residents to determine the rate of attrition as of 1998. STUDY DESIGN: Data were collected from the AMA's Medical Education Research Information Database, the American College of Surgeons Resident Masterfile, and the Association of American Medical Colleges GME Tracking Census database. The data were examined by specialty, gender, ethnic background, and type of medical school attended. RESULTS: The overall attrition rate from surgical GME was 12%; the rate for international medical graduates was 33%; and the rate for osteopathic residents was 28%. African-American United States and Canadian graduates had attrition rates of 16% for men and 8% for women, and Hispanic United States and Canadian graduates had attrition rates of 14% for men and 15% for women. General surgery residents had an attrition rate of 26%, which included residents in undesignated preliminary positions. Gender was not a risk factor except for the significantly higher attrition rate of African-American men. Most (81%) of the residents who dropped out of surgical GME enrolled in GME in other specialties. CONCLUSIONS: The attrition rate from surgical GME is low, and most residents who drop out reenter GME in another specialty. Of concern is the high rate of attrition of African-American men who are United States or Canadian graduates. The highest rate of attrition, by far, is in the group of international medical graduates, many of whom are likely to have held undesignated preliminary positions.

Career Choice↗

PubMed1997

The general surgery workforce.

BACKGROUND: The workforce in general surgery has been the subject of studies in 1975 and 1994, as has the input of residency program graduates, their subsequent subspecialization, and the retirement pattern of practicing general surgeons. This study analyzes the distribution of general surgeons in the United States. DATA SOURCES: Certified general surgeons were identified from files of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Included were general surgeons with no additional certificates except for Surgical Critical Care. Excluded were surgeons certified only by an osteopathic board, noncertified surgeons, retirees, missionaries, federal employees, and military surgeons. The Area Resource File of the Bureau of Health Professions was used to classify metropolitan and rural areas, and primary care health professions shortage areas (PC-HPSA). CONCLUSIONS: General surgeons are well distributed in the various states. More general surgeons are located in metropolitan than in rural areas, and few general surgeons practice in counties in which the whole county is designated as a PC-HPSA. The ratio of general surgeons to the population is similar to that found in 1975.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

The longitudinal study of surgical residents, 1993 to 1994.

BACKGROUND: The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has collected comprehensive data about surgical residents for the past 12 years and has published an annual report, the Longitudinal Study of Surgical Residents. In 1994, the ACS and the American Medical Association (AMA) agreed to collaborate in collecting data about surgical residents. We report the analysis of these data for residents enrolled in graduate medical education (GME) in surgery during the 1993 to 1994 academic year. STUDY DESIGN: Data about residents and fellows during the 1993 to 1994 academic year, including the 1994 graduates from 13 surgical specialties, were obtained from the AMA. Through additional mailings and telephone contact by the ACS, data were obtained and verified from each of the 1,500 accredited surgical residency programs. The resulting data set was analyzed to derive a count of residents and fellows and graduates for the 1993 to 1994 academic year. The ACS Resident Masterfile was analyzed separately to compare the 1993 to 1994 results with those from previous years. RESULTS: The total number of surgical residents enrolled in GME has changed little since 1982. Since 1987, the number of graduates has increased 2.1 percent. More general surgery graduates are enrolling in advanced specialty GME than were enrolling in 1982. The average age of graduates from core residency programs is 33 years, of advanced program graduates is 35 years, and of international medical graduates is 36 years. International medical graduates represent 7.1 percent of all surgical residents and fellows and 5.5 percent of graduates. Women and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in surgical GME. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical GME enrollment has been stable since 1982, and graduates of general surgery residencies are increasingly likely to enroll in advanced specialty residency programs.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Calculating the workforce in general surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To provide a reasonable estimate of the patient care and resident physician workforce practicing general surgery in 1994. DESIGN: Data regarding general surgical residents and practicing general surgeons were obtained from four sources and compared with previously published numbers. DATA SOURCES: Information was derived from the American College of Surgeons' Longitudinal Study of Surgical Residents: 1992-1993; the American Medical Association's Physician Characteristics and Distribution in the United States, 1994 Edition; the American Board of Medical Specialties' database on general surgeons; and the American Board of Surgery recertification data from the files of diplomates since 1968. Each of these sources was analyzed separately to derive a count of graduates from general surgery residency programs and an estimate of fully trained general surgeons engaged in patient care activities. RESULTS: We found that approximately 600 graduates of general surgery residency programs enter the practice of general surgery each year, and we found a close correlation between maximum and minimum estimates of the number of fully trained general surgeons engaged in active patient care, certified general surgeons who are not retired, and currently certified general surgeons. This number (17,289 to 23,502) is approximately half that commonly used in calculations of the general surgery workforce (38,239). The larger number includes surgeons with subspecialty training beyond general surgery, surgical residents, and surgeons not engaged in patient care. CONCLUSIONS: Estimations of the workforce in general surgery and predictions of future needs for general surgeons must be derived from the appropriate number of general surgery residents and practicing general surgeons.

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