Abstract
BACKGROUND: When surgeons decide to become surgeons has important implications. If the decision
is made prior to or early in medical school, surgical education can be more focused on surgical
diseases and resident skills.
METHODS: To determine when surgeons – compared with their nonsurgical colleagues – decide on
their medical path, residents in surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry,
and emergency medicine were surveyed. Timing of residency choice, demographic data, personal
goals, and reason for residency choice were queried.
RESULTS: A total of 234 residents responded (53 surgical residents). Sixty-two percent of surgeons
reported that they were ‘‘fairly certain’’ of surgery before medical school, 13% decided during their
preclinical years, and 25% decided during their clerkship years. This compares with an aggregate
40%, 7%, and 54%, respectively, for the other 5 residency specialties. These differences were statistically
significant (P 5 .001). When the 234 residents were asked about their primary motivation for
choosing their field, 51% pointed to expected job satisfaction and 44% to intellectual curiosity, and
only 3% mentioned lifestyle, prestige, or income.