"Grit" - A New Marker for Residents at Risk of Attrition?

 I wasn't aware that attrition from general surgery residencies has hovered around 20% for nearly a decade.  This has a number of natural consequences on the health human resource planning, access to surgical care, and the ability of training programs to function properly.  In addition, transitioning residency programs is not a simple task and brings a great deal of stress to the trainee and their family.

In a multisite study across twelve general surgery programs, investigators evaluated "grit" - a novel character trait they defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, and explored how it could be a marker and potential risk factor for resident attrition.

Interestingly, of the residents that left their training programs, all had "below-median grit."  However, the limited sample size, compounded with the low attrition rate in this particular sample, resulted in low power and limited statistical significance.

The study also looked at key resident support strategies and found that having access to family, spending time with friends outside of residency, supportive co-residents, and formal mentorship  seemed to improve "grit" and reduce attrition.

Be interesting to see the study on a larger scale and see how valuable "grit" may turn out to be for surgery and, perhaps, across disciplines.