Surgical manpower in New South Wales

A series of surveys of general surgeons in the State of New South Wales is reported. Each five years the number of general surgeons entering practice has been proportionately greater than population growth, and has also been proportionally greater than that of other surgical specialities. The speciality is not growing and is so saturated that almost half the general surgeons are engaged in general practice. It is suggested that the number of training posts be reduced to a level near that required to satisfy the requirement of our community for replacement of those leaving practice.