From Athlete to Surgeon: Examining Sports and Grit Among General Surgery Residents

OBJECTIVE

The transition of Step 1 to pass/fail has generated concerns over selecting promising candidates. Holistic reviews integrate other proficiencies, including extracurriculars such as sports. Grit – defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals – has been positively associated with competitive activities and is predictive of academic success. The prevalence and impact of sports participation and its relationship to grit in the general surgery resident population has not been described and was investigated in this study.

DESIGN

Surveys measuring sports participation and grit were distributed after the 2021 ABSITE. Grit was assessed through the short grit scale. Inferential statistics were performed.

SETTING/PARTICIPANTS

General surgery residents in all US training programs who completed the 2021 ABSITE.

RESULTS

Of 5468 respondents (response rate 59.6%), 2,548 (46.7%) were female, 917 (17.4%) URiM, 2171 (39.8%) married, and 1,069 (19.6%) parents. About 4284 (83.8%) residents reported being involved in competitive sports. Grit was higher in residents with a competitive sports history (3.67 ± 0.58 versus 3.60 ± 0.61, p = 0.0022). Greater time commitment and being part of a team was positively correlated to grit (both p < 0.0001). Individuals that self-identified as underrepresented in medicine (URiM) had higher grit (3.71 ± 0.59 versus 3.65 ± 0.58 for non-URiM, p < 0.0001) as did female (p = 0.0016), married residents (p < 0.0001), and parents (p < 0.0001). Being an athlete was associated with significantly higher grit for nearly all demographic subgroups, including URiM (p = 0.0068), married (p = 0.0175), and parents (p = 0.0487).

CONCLUSIONS

Higher grit was found in athletes and marginalized groups including females, URiM, and residents that were married or parents. Our data suggests that recruiting applicants of diverse backgrounds and experiences will result in a grittier cohort; a group potentially equipped to weather the arduous surgical residency training path. Recruiting residents with characteristics associated with higher grit can potentially impact diversity of the surgical workforce.