Surgical and urologic manpower in the United States, 1969 to 1978

Between 1969 and 1978 the number of board-certified urologists increased by 71 per cent, while the population of the United States increased by 8.2 per cent. In 1978 the ratio of board-certified urologists to population was 1:32,416 and 326 of 370 first-year residency positions available in urology in the United States were filled. If we continue to produce urologists at the present rate the urologist to population ratio will be approximately 1:25,972 by year 2000. Thus, it appears that there are now too many urologists being trained yearly, which was indicated by 68 per cent of the academic program directors surveyed in 1979. In fact, to restore the ratio of urologist to population approximately 1:35,000 by year 2000 the number of urologists being trained yearly should be reduced to 156 or by approximately 50 per cent. The only reasonable chance of achieving a reduction in urologists being trained in the near future is by voluntary decreases in the size of training programs. There are many consequences of overproduction of urologists, including unnecessary surgery, atrophy of skills among practitioners and diminution of major training programs because of lack of patient referrals. Therefore, this issue is of equal importance to private practitioners and to academicians.