Table III .Distribution of General Surgeons in Metropolitan and Rural Areas and in Primary Care Health Professions Shortage Areas. General Surgeons No. We assume that this remains the case in 1996, and that the whole counties designated as primary care health professions shortage areas are likely to have few hospital facilities, consistent with the low number of general surgeons who practice in these areas. The lesser number of general surgeons in rural areas and the higher age of these surgeons may indicate that new graduates from residency programs may find that practice opportunities are greater in rural than in metropolitan areas. We have not studied this possibility.
General surgeons provide a vital component of basic health services.
Through association of the number of approved resident positions in surgical programs with the resources available and the quality of the educational program, growth in the input of new general surgeons into the workforce has been contained and the number of practicing general surgeons has expanded slowly. The Longitudinal Study of Surgical Residents, 1993-1994. Calculating the workforce in General Surgery. Retirement age and the workforce in general surgery. Area Resource File.