Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026
Murine Superficial Lymph Node Surgery
Published on: May 21, 2012
Defining the Canadian rural general surgeon
Lyndsay Glass1, Malcolm Davidson1, Emily Friedrich1
1From the Division of General Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ont. (Glass); Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Afford); Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. (Davidson); Undergraduate Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Friedrich); Division of General Surgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton Alta. (MacVicar); Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Gentles); the Department of Surgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta. (Miles); Department of Surgery, Northern Ontario School of Medicine University, Sudbury, Ont. (Kirkpatrick, Champion); Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, N.L. (Smithson); the Department of Surgery, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. (Walsh); Canadian General Surgery Foundation, Canadian Association of General Surgeons, Kanata, Ont. (Walsh); Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Hiscock); Department of Surgery, Shuswap Lake General Hospital, Salmon Arm, BC (Hiscock); Department of Surgery, McGill University, Montréal, Que. (Wong); Department of Surgery, West Parry Sound Health Centre, Parry Sound, Ont. (Champion).
Background:
A total of 18%-30% of Canadians live in a rural area and are served by 8% of the country's general surgeons. The demographic characteristics of Canada's population and its geography greatly affect the health outcomes and needs of the population living in rural areas, and rural general surgeons hold a unique role in meeting the surgical needs of these communities. Rural general surgery is a distinct area of practice that is not well understood. We aimed to define the Canadian rural general surgeon to inform rural health human resource planning.
Methods:
A scoping review of the literature was undertaken of Ovid, MEDLINE, and Embase using the terms "rural," "general surgery," and "workforce." We limited our review to articles from North America and Australia.
Results:
The search yielded 425 titles, and 110 articles underwent full-text review. A definition of rural general surgery was not identified in the Canadian literature. Rurality was defined by population cut-offs or combining community size and proximity to larger centres. The literature highlighted the unique challenges and broad scope of rural general surgical practice.
Conclusion:
Rural general surgeons in Canada can be defined as specialists who work in a small community with limited metropolitan influence. They apply core general surgery skills and skills from other specialties to serve the unique needs of their community. Surgical training programs and health systems planning must recognize and support the unique skill set required of rural general surgeons and the critical role they play in the health and sustainability of rural communities.
