Patient inequities in affording surgical resident operative autonomy at Veterans Affairs teaching hospitals, does it extend to female patients?

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Examining surgical resident operative autonomy within the Veterans Affairs (VA) System, we previously showed residents were afforded autonomy more frequently on Black patients. We hypothesized that, compared to males, female surgical patients receive less attending involvement and more resident autonomy during surgery. METHODS: Retrospective review of all general/vascular surgeries performed at teaching VA hospitals from 2004 to 2019. Operative procedures are coded at the time of surgery as attending primary surgeon (AP), attending with resident (AR), or resident primary surgeon--attending not scrubbed (RP). The primary outcome was the difference in supervision rates between patient sexes. RESULTS: 618,578 operations were examined-24.9% AP, 68.9% AR, and 6.2% RP. Overall, 5.9% of cases were performed on women. The rate of RP cases was higher in males compared to females (6.3% vs 5.3%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Female veterans are less likely to have residents operate on them autonomously. Reasons for this require further characterization.