부산대학교 도서관

Purpose: From 2020 to 2021, national average rent for an apartment increased by 19.3% and home prices increased by 18.8%. Meanwhile, from 2020 to 2021, the mean first-year resident stipend increased by 0.6%. Housing costs are outpacing resident stipend growth, which may impact residents’ ability to secure safe, affordable housing in certain regions. We aimed to examine housing affordability for first-year general surgery residents by state and major city.Methods: General surgery residencies were identified using an AMA database. 2021–2022 PGY-1 stipend data were obtained via online search, grouped by state and major city, and averaged. Major cities were defined as having forty or more first-year residency positions. California programs were grouped by those with and without housing stipends. 1BR and 2BR Fair Market Rents (FMR) were extracted from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s 2021 housing report. States’ mean monthly mortgage payments were taken from Business Insider and major city mortgage payments were calculated using Realtor.com. Affordability was defined as spending < 30% of income on housing.Results: Stipend data were available for 337 of 346 programs. The national average first-year stipend is $60,064 ± $4233. The percent of average income necessary for 1BR FMR, 2BR FMR, and mortgage payments was 19%, 23%, and 32%, respectively. 10 major cities were identified, with an average resident stipend of $63,016 ± $4092. The percent of average income necessary for 1BR FMR, 2BR FMR, and mortgage payments was 26%, 32%, and 57%, respectively. 1BR FMR was unaffordable in four cities, 2BR FMR was unaffordable in five cities, and mortgage payments were unaffordable in eight cities.Conclusion: Access to affordable housing for first-year surgery residents is region-dependent and more limited in major cities. The financial strain of housing costs may impact job performance and overall resident wellness, and some populations are more vulnerable. The housing cost problem highlights the resident compensation problem that already exists and will continue to impact resident wellness until addressed.