Abstract

The average medical school debt in 2011 was $170,000 and by 2017 it increased to $190,000. High debt burden has been shown to affect career choices for residents in primary care specialties; however, it has not been well studied among surgical residents. The purpose of this multi-institutional study is to assess the amount of debt among general surgery residents and its effects on their career and lifestyle decisions.Surveys were distributed to 607 categorical general surgery residents at 19 different residency programs. Degree of debt was assessed and responses compared.Overall, 427(70.3%) residents completed the survey, of which 317(74.2%) reported having student loan debt. Of those with debt, 262(82.6%) felt that repaying debt was a significant financial burden in residency, 248 (78.3%) felt it would remain a burden after residency, 210(66.2%) felt their debt would influence their future job choice, and 225(71%) felt their debt will delay their ability to buy a home. Debt did not affect decisions to get married or have children. There were 109(25.6%) residents with no debt, 131(30.8%) with <$200,000, 103(24.2%) with $200,000-300,000, and 83(19.5%) with >$300,000. Residents with high debt were less likely to feel financially secure now (p<0.0001) and when thinking about their future (p-0.0001). They also had higher minimum starting salary goals (p=0.002) and were less likely to have had assistance paying for their education (p=0.0001).Surgical residents feel their debt is a significant financial burden. Furthermore, high debt significantly influences their financial security, practice location, and salary goals.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2019.10.016

View details for Web of Science ID 000508903700002

View details for PubMedID 31783093