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Gregory P. Victorino, MD; Claude H. Organ, Jr, MD

Arch Surg. 2003;138:971-976.

Hypothesis  We hypothesized that physician assistants (PAs) will decrease surgery resident work hours and improve resident work outlook.

Design  Surgical resident survey.

Setting  A county hospital in a university-based surgical residency program.

Participants  Surgery residents who switched (or "rotated") to the county hospital were polled monthly for 6 months after using PAs as team members on the surgical services.

Main Outcome Measures  Resident work hours and work outlook.

Results  Surgery resident hours were significantly decreased by the fourth, fifth, and sixth months after PAs joined the surgical services. Despite what these data on resident hours suggest, 6 (60%) of 10 residents believed that the PAs had no influence on the amount of time the residents spend in the hospital. Six (60%) of 10 residents thought the PAs decreased stress levels and 6 (60%) of 10 residents thought the PAs helped to improve morale.

Conclusions  Physician assistants can have a positive influence on graduate surgical education programs. Physician assistants can help decrease surgery resident work hours and improve resident work outlook.

From the Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, East Bay, Oakland.

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