The impact of an acute care surgery team on general surgery residency.

BACKGROUND

Acute care surgical teams (ACSTs) have limited data in residency. We sought to determine the impact of an ACST on the depth and breadth of general surgery resident training.

METHODS

One year prior to and after implementation of an ACST, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education case logs spanning multiple postgraduate year levels were compared for numbers, case types, and complexity.

RESULTS

We identified 6,009 cases, including 2,783 after ACST implementation. ACSTs accounted for 752 cases (27%), with 39.2% performed laparoscopically. ACST cases included biliary (19.4%), skin/soft tissue (10%), hernia (9.8%), and appendix (6.5%). Second-year residents performed a lower percentage of laparoscopic cases after the creation of the ACST (20.4% vs 26.3%; P = .003), while chief residents performed a higher percentage (42.1 vs 37.4; P = .04). Case numbers and complexity following ACST development were unchanged within all year groups (P > .1).

CONCLUSION

ACST in a residency program does not sacrifice resident case complexity, diversity, or volume.