Conflicts of surgeons: is surgical vocation in crisis?

Abstract

Background: In recent years we have witnessed more publications about personal and psychological issues affecting surgeons, residents quitting surgery residencies, and lack of specialization of young individuals. This growth can be observed especially in high-impact journals such as The Lancet or JAMA.
But what is the situation in Argentina? Do we think that we are receiving adequate payment for our practice? Do we consider quitting our specialty? How many conflicts do we have with patients each month? We think that a regional work is necessary to reflect this situation.
Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the current socioeconomic situation of surgeons.
Material and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study.
Results: A total of 73 surgeons from the province of Santa Fe were contacted and 42 answers were received (response rate 57.5%): 87.8% were men and 56.1% corresponded to middle/older adulthood.
Almost all surgeons (97.6%) agreed that their income did not reflect the time spent in practice. Up to 26.2% of survey respondents considered quitting their daily practice in the last year due to economic reasons, which is the main problem for 72.7% of them.
Discussion: Surgeons’ discomfort with their salaries (97.6%), the discrepancy in percentages between male and female surgeons (87.8% vs. 12.2%), the lack of young surgeons (43.9%) and the alarming number of surgeons graduated per year (35 per year) are 4 key issues which we believe should be urgently addressed by political bodies and, especially, by surgery associations..