Hepato‐pancreato‐biliary and transplant surgery experience among New Zealand general surgery trainees

AbstractBackgroundSubspecialty surgery experience during general surgery training in Australasia is influenced by many factors, including duration of training, training location and the introduction of post‐fellowship training programmes. Experience in hepato‐pancreato‐biliary (HPB) and transplant surgery is part of the general surgery curriculum, although trainee experience in these subspecialties has not been quantified in this region, which is relevant to post‐fellowship training programmes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to quantify the HPB and transplant operative experience of New Zealand (NZ) general surgery trainees.MethodsOperative logbook data were analysed for all NZ trainees from 2013 to 2017, including procedures categorized as pancreatic, biliary, hepatic and transplant surgery only. The number of cases within each category was used to model the cumulative operative experience over a 5‐year training programme.ResultsDuring the study period, 118 trainees (303 trainee years) recorded 15 662 HPB and transplant procedures. Of these, 13 838 (88.4%) were cholecystectomies (mean cumulative experience 219.3 cases). Excluding cholecystectomy, trainees had a mean cumulati