Sustaining a career in surgery

•Understand why the surgery has a relatively high attrition rate and why this is important.•Describe the illnesses, occupational exposures, and ergonomic injuries that can limit a surgical career and how to prevent them.•Understand how to recognize, prevent and treat emotional distress and burnout.•Develop specific strategies for both individual and institutional support for physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

Surgery is a demanding career with great rewards and equally great challenges. In order to sustain our careers as well as the careers of our colleagues, it is important to understand and address the physical, psychological and spiritual challenges of surgery. With rare exception, the majority of surgery residents and practicing surgeons who prematurely leave surgery do so because they find the work to be physically, emotionally or spiritually incompatible with the vision they have for their life. Understanding these issues and providing solutions to improve surgeon wellness can help prevent societal loss of these highly trained professionals and suffering for surgeons and their families.