Work hour restrictions have had a profound impact on surgical education. However, little is known of how they may affect the future practices of current surgical residents. The purpose of this study is to compare the anticipated career practice patterns of surgical residents with that of current faculty.

An electronic survey was sent to all surgery residents and faculty at a university affiliated medical center. The survey consisted of questions regarding expected (residents) or current (faculty) practice patterns.

A total of 73 residents and 57 faculty completed the survey (50.3% & 52.3% response rates respectively). There was a greater proportion of males in the faculty cohort than in the resident group (89.5% vs 61.6%, p=0.0003). More faculty, than residents, felt that work hour restrictions have a negative effect on residency education (42.1% vs 23.3%, p=0.003) and preparation for a surgical career (63.2% vs 26%, p<0.0001). Compared to current faculty, residents plan to take less call (p=0.0003), work fewer days of the week (p<0.0001), are more likely to limit their duty hours on post call days (p<0.0001), and to take parental leave (p=0.008) once in practice. Male and female residents did not differ in their responses except that more female residents are planning a parental leave (50% vs 15.6%, p=0.01).

Current surgical residents plan to adopt resident work hour guidelines into their surgical practices upon completion of residency. These practice patterns will have surgical work force implications requiring larger surgical groups and reconsideration of resource allocation.