The training of general surgeons in the United States can trace its roots back to
the system introduced by William Stewart Halsted at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and
many of the unique components persist today [
[1]
]. The training was hospital based, university sponsored, with the expectation that
residents would gain knowledge and understanding of the scientific basis of surgical
principles, ultimately resulting in increased responsibility over several years of
training [
[2]
]. This training culminated in a final period of near-total independence and autonomy.
The results of this training under Halsted were quite remarkable, and those who completed
the Halsted training went on to direct departments of surgery at the leading institutions
of the day [
[3]
].To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Advances in SurgeryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The training of the Surgeon.Bulletin of Johns Hopkins Hospital. 1904; 15: 267-275
- William Stewart Halsted. Our surgical heritage.Ann Surg. 1997; 225: 445-458
- The fruition of Halsted’s concept of surgical training.Surgery. 1952; 32: 518-527
- Churchill and the "rectangular" surgical residency.Surgery. 2004; 136: 947-952
- Surgeon volume and operative mortality in the United States.N Engl J Med. 2003; 349: 2117-2127
- Surgeon volume compared to hospital volume as a predictor of outcome following primary colon cancer resection.J Surg Oncol. 2003; 83: 68-78
- Evolution of the surgeon-volume, patient-outcome relationship.Ann Surg. 2009; 250: 159-165
- Endoscopic surgery: the history, the pioneers.World J Surg. 1999; 23: 745-753
- Individual and social concerns in American surgical education: paying patients, prepaid health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid.Acad Med. 2010; 85: 854-862
- AAMC: Physicians at teaching hospitals (PATH) audits.(Available at:) (Accessed November 16, 2010)
- ACGME Work Group on Resident Duty Hours. New requirements for resident duty hours.JAMA. 2002; 288: 1112-1114
- The new recommendations on duty hours from the ACGME Task Force.N Engl J Med. 2010; 363 ([Epub]): e3
- The impending disappearance of the general surgeon.JAMA. 2007; 298: 2191-2193
- The surgeon: a changing profile.Arch Surg. 2008; 143: 827-831
- Population analysis predicts a future critical shortage of general surgeons.Surgery. 2008; 144: 548-554
- American Board of Surgery 2009–2010 Booklet of Information.(Available at:) (Accessed November 16, 2010)
- Surgical Council on Resident Education General Surgery Residency Patient Care Curriculum Outline 2009–2010.(Available at:) (Accessed November 16, 2010)
- Surgical council on resident education: a new organization devoted to graduate surgical education.J Am Coll Surg. 2007; 204: 341-346
- Vascular surgery training in the United States: a half-century of evolution.J Vasc Surg. 2008; 48: 90S-97S
- Thoracic surgery education—past, present, and future.Ann Thorac Surg. 2005; 79: S2232-S2237
- Early tracking would improve the operative experience of general surgery residents.Ann Surg. 2010; 252: 445-449
Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 04, 2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
