The ups and downs of general surgery resident experience in endocrine surgery: Analysis of 30 years of ACGME graduate case logs.

Background The aim of this study was to determine trends in the experience of general surgery residents with endocrine surgery cases. Methods American Association of Endocrine Surgeons national general surgery case logs from 1989 through 2019 were reviewed. The numbers of individuals completing residency and the mean and median number of endocrine surgery cases by type and by level of operating resident surgeon were abstracted from annual data and analyzed. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analyses were performed modeling endocrine surgery cases over time and stratified by procedure type and resident level. Results The number of individuals completing general surgery residency each year increased from 981 to 1,219 (P Conclusion After having increased for 2 decades, the number of endocrine surgery cases performed by general surgery residents is currently in decline. Possible contributing factors include growth in the number of general surgery residents, variable and narrowed case mix, and encroachment by other learners.