The Coming Shortage of Surgeons

Reviews / Votes

"Concerns have been voiced over the lack of sufficient numbers of primary care physicians in the US but rarely on the dwindling surgeon workforce. In the contexts of current healthcare reform efforts and medical education funding, Williams (cardio-thoracic surgery) and colleagues at Ohio State University shed light on factors behind the constraints to supply. Long, and in some specialities, unpredictable working hours are nearly as much of an issue as malpractice, but reimbursement remains the top issue. Tables provide statistics on the recent and projected number of retiring physicians." - SciTech Book News "The audience for this book is broad. It should be on the shelf of every serious medical educator, surgeon, or health administrator. It should be read by individuals involved in health reform, as it makes the points that there is a shortage of surgeons, health care workers of all types, and not just primary care doctors." - Annals of Surgery "The Coming Shortage of Surgeons is a timely, provocative, and informative evaluation of the future of surgery, presented by well-respected members of the surgical community. This analysis paints a vivid and detailed description of the future for those practicing medicine as well as for those who may one day require the skills of a surgeon." - JAMA "The book could be an important reference for all in our specialty who should be interested in these issues and a source of quantitative information that could be used to support arguments that not only benefit the interests of surgical
specialists like cardiothoracic surgeons but also abet the health and safety of the fellow citizens whom we seek to serve."

- Annals of Thoracic Surgery "The book is a data-driven, quantitative analysis of the workforce in question, covering every single surgical specialty. The authors explain, in clear language with supporting graphical data, which specialties will experience the greatest
shortages, the potential impacts on patients, and the steps we can take to ensure we are not left without a surgeon
when we need one. . . . Although we may not yet have the full solution for this problem, these authors' contribution of this outstanding book may go a long way toward alerting the country to the coming challenge." - Health Care News