Measures to Resolve the Shortfall of General Surgeons

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Dana Christian Lynge, MD Training, recruiting and retaining general surgeons are key workforce issues for many hospitals across the United States. In a broad sense, these concerns impact the entire field of surgery, from students interested in surgery, to the most established surgeons in practice. What can our profession do to reconcile these issues? Dr. Dana Christian Lynge, associate professor of surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and practicing general surgeon, details his research, published in the Archives of Surgery, that has served to highlight much of the unease surrounding this issue. It used to be that many surgeons with subspecialty certifications also trained in general surgery, but now, their time in general surgery has decreased significantly: how is this trend affecting the matters at hand?