Noticeable Variations in the Educational Exposure During Residency in Danish Orthopedic Departments

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to examine the educational exposure during residency in Danish orthopedic departments.DESIGN: Questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study.SETTING: Data were gathered from January 1, 2014 to April 30, 2014 through a nationwide web-based questionnaire containing 15 questions within the areas of workload, surgical procedures, outpatient clinic, and research activities. The residents targeted worked at small-to-large hospitals and in tertiary care centers.PARTICIPANTS: Every resident in Denmark (n = 163) with at least 3 active months at a department was included. Questionnaires with less than 80% completion were excluded. In total, 152 entries were registered. Among those, 27 did not meet the inclusion criteria and 29 were excluded, leaving 96 participants, representing 22 of 26 departments, for further analysis.RESULTS: The average number of operative procedures as primary surgeon was 16 (range: 8-35) per month. In all, 18 of 22 (81%) departments offered the possibility to participate in research facilitated by the department and 38 of 96 (40%) worked for free (an average of 10 h a month [range: 3-60]) to increase the amount of surgical procedures.CONCLUSIONS: A large variation in the educational exposure was found among the Danish orthopedic departments. Numbers indicate that Danish residents, compared with their US counterparts, operate considerably less during residency. Most residents work overtime and many of them work for free to participate in more surgical procedures. ((C) 2016 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)