"Why would you want to do that?"Surgical Interns Reflect on Discouragement From Entering Surgical Fields

Abstract

Introduction: Decreasing numbers of medical students are choosing to pursue surgical careers. This study highlights individual experiences of surgical interns receiving discouragement from pursuing surgery as a career.

Methods: We interviewed 24 incoming surgical interns from 7 institutions and 7 surgical subspecialties about their experiences with discouragement from surgery.

Results: All surgical interns discussed experiencing discouragement from pursuing surgery as a career. Family, friends, the general public, and medical professionals, including surgeons, served as sources of discouragement. Reasons for discouragement fell into 3 main themes: The Surgeon and Surgical Culture, The Sacrifices, and The Sexism. Despite its pervasiveness, participants reconciled the discouragement received.

Discussion: Discouragement from surgery is pervasive and centered around surgeon stereotypes and perceptions of surgical culture, significant personal sacrifices required, and traditional gender-related expectations. These results highlight the importance of individual surgeons' comments on student experience and can be used to improve the perception of surgery amongst prospective interns.

Keywords: medical student education; specialty selection; surgery education; surgical culture; women in surgery.