BABCKGROUND: The demands of a surgical career have known impacts on surgeons' well-being
however, the impact on their partners is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of the partners of faculty and housestaff in a single department of surgery. Participants responded to questions assessing the impact of their partner's career on their relationship, family, and personal well-being adapted from the Stanford "Impact of Work on Personal Relationships" survey. RESULTS: There were 36 responses (response rate 55%). The majority were women (67%) with partners who are men (64%) and a relationship length of 10+ y (56%). The greatest impact was on the direct surgeon-partner relationship, with a median [interquartile range] impact score of 4 [3-4], indicating moderately severe impact, followed by 3 [2-4] for both family life and emotional well-being, indicating moderate impact. Nevertheless, 64% of partners agreed or strongly agreed that they would want their partner to choose a surgical career again. CONCLUSIONS: A surgical career has significant impact on surgeons' partners. Future work should explore strategies to mitigate this impact on surgeons' relationships and family life.