Washington Post Examines Shortage Of General Surgeons In Rural U.S.

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 06 Jan 2009 - 3:00 PST

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The Washington Post recently examined how "various forces -- educational, medical and sociological -- are making" general surgeons "an endangered species" in rural areas of the U.S. According to the Post, for the one-quarter of U.S. residents living outside of metropolitan areas, general surgeons are "the essential ingredient that keeps full-service medical care within reach." However, there is a shortage of general surgeons across the U.S., with five certified general surgeons per 100,000 residents. The Post reports, "Many young physicians are opting for non-surgical specialties ... in which they can earn as much money as a surgeon with less grueling and unpredictable hours." According to the Post, the surgeon shortage is "most acute" in rural parts of the country and is "likely to get worse" because more than half of rural general surgeons are older than age 50 and many could retire in the next 10 years.

George Sheldon, director of the American College of Surgery's Health Policy Institute, said, "The shortage of general surgeons is at crisis dimensions," adding that if the trend continues, "the quality of health care will suffer, as the services of a surgeon are unique." The federal Health Resources and Services Administration provides incentives to encourage more primary care physicians and dentists to work in areas with "unserved, underserved, vulnerable and disadvantaged populations," but those incentives have not been extended to general surgeons, according to the Post. The Post reports that the "chief tactic" of the American College of Surgery to deal with the shortage has been to "let people know the problem exists."

The Post highlights hospitals in rural Iowa and Mississippi in which the general surgeon shortage is "already affecting patients" (Brown, Washington Post, 1/1).

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