Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
S Afr J Surg. 2021 Sep;59(3):77-81.
Sustaining a surgical career can be challenging and there are numerous barriers to pursuing a career in surgery. These barriers and challenges are well reported in international literature, but there is a lack of knowledge on how this affects surgeons in South Africa. This study aimed to determine the barriers and challenges that South African surgeons face in their training and careers.
A 15-item questionnaire was designed and distributed via the Research Electronic Database Capturing software from 1 February-3 April 2020. Data were analysed in Stata 15 SE. All responses were anonymised.
One hundred and twenty-nine participants responded to the questionnaire, 33 (26%) of whom were female. The majority were specialist surgeons ( = 87; 71%). One hundred and eleven participants (90%) reported they did not regret pursuing surgery. Barriers to pursuing surgery included limited personal time ( = 98; 76%), heavy surgical workload ( = 92; 71%), and difficulty taking leave of absence ( = 64; 50%), limited postgraduate training ( = 34; 26%), and verbal discouragement ( = 22; 17%). Challenges included difficulty maintaining work-life balance ( = 74; 56%), racial discrimination ( = 29; 23%) and gender discrimination ( = 15; 12%). Fifty-three per cent of participants experienced burnout.
Despite high career satisfaction, South African surgeons face numerous barriers to pursuing and challenges in sustaining a career in surgery and often experience burnout. These barriers and challenges disproportionately affect female surgeons and can be mitigated through formalised mentorship programmes, flexible work schedules, funding for postgraduate training, and training in diversity and discrimination.
维持外科职业生涯可能具有挑战性，并且在追求外科职业方面存在许多障碍。这些障碍和挑战在国际文献中已有充分报道，但对于这些障碍和挑战如何影响南非外科医生，人们知之甚少。本研究旨在确定南非外科医生在培训和职业生涯中面临的障碍和挑战。
设计了一个包含 15 个问题的问卷，并于 2020 年 2 月 1 日至 4 月 3 日通过 Research Electronic Database Capturing 软件进行了分发。使用 Stata 15 SE 进行数据分析。所有回复均进行了匿名处理。
共有 129 名参与者对问卷做出了回应，其中 33 名（26%）为女性。大多数是专科外科医生（=87；71%）。111 名参与者（90%）表示他们不后悔选择外科。选择外科的障碍包括个人时间有限（=98；76%）、外科工作量大（=92；71%）、请假困难（=64；50%）、研究生培训有限（=34；26%）和言语上的劝阻（=22；17%）。面临的挑战包括难以维持工作与生活的平衡（=74；56%）、种族歧视（=29；23%）和性别歧视（=15；12%）。53%的参与者经历过职业倦怠。
尽管职业满意度较高，但南非外科医生在追求和维持外科职业生涯方面面临着许多障碍和挑战，并且经常经历职业倦怠。这些障碍和挑战不成比例地影响女性外科医生，可以通过正式的指导计划、灵活的工作时间表、研究生培训资金以及多样性和歧视培训来缓解。
