The aging general surgeon of rural America

Nonmetropolitan communities are faced with health care professional shortages and prior reports suggest that general surgeons are no exception. The purpose of this brief is to evaluate the age difference and distribution of rural versus urban general surgeons to highlight the growing need to recruit medical students and residents for rural practice.

A secondary data analysis of residency graduated general surgeon demographics at the county level was performed using data from the Area Health Resource File. General surgeon demographic data were compared between nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas.

The number of general surgeons practicing in rural communities is decreasing by a rate of approximately 0.5%-1.0% annually. Moreover, the entry of younger (<35 years of age) general surgeons into rural counties (8.7%) was less than urban regions (12.1%). Rural general surgeons tended to be older than their urban peers, and on average, rural general surgeon age exhibits a negative skewed, platykurtic distribution.

Immediate action must be taken to generate more surgeons for rural practice. A failure to increase recruitment and retention of rural surgeons may have severe consequences on the health status of rural communities.