Meaningful Autonomy in General Surgery Training: Exploring for Gender Bias

Background: Resident autonomy is essential to the development of a surgical resident. This study aims to analyze gender differences in meaningful autonomy (MA) given to general surgery trainees intraoperatively.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of general surgery residents at an academic-affiliated tertiary care facility. Attending surgeons completed post-operative evaluations based on the Zwisch model (4-point scale, ≥3 indicating MA).

Results: Attending faculty members (37 males, 15 females) completed evaluations of 35 residents (18 males, 17 females). A total of 3574 evaluations were analyzed (1380 female, 2194 male residents) over 28 months. Multivariate analysis revealed case complexity, post graduate year level and rater gender were significantly associated with MA. Resident gender and faculty experience did not impact MA.

Conclusions: In contrast to published literature, resident gender did not influence MA. This may be encouraging to surgical programs seeking strategies to address gender bias.