Part-Time Surgeons Could Alleviate Future Workforce Shortage

Retiring surgeons or young female surgeons taking time off for their families to work part-time could considerably reduce the predicted surgeon shortage in the United States by 2030, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Ohio State University Medical Center (Columbus, USA) used a 2005 workforce baseline of 99,000 surgeons in general surgery and sub-specialties to calculate the predicted surgical workforce by the year 2030. The researcher assumed 3,635 board certificates earned per year, and that the average surgeon will practice for 30 years (with 3,300 retiring each year). The researchers then calculated that if one-quarter (scenario one), one-half (scenario two), or three-quarters (scenario three) of potential retirees worked half-time for an additional 10 years, the United States would have 4,125 (4% increase), 8,250 (8% increase) or 12,375 (16% increase) additional part-time surgeons, thereby alleviating the predicted surgeon shortage by 14.2%, 28.3%, or 42.5%, respectively.

The study authors also concluded that employment models should address flexible work schedules, malpractice premium adjustments, academic promotion, certification and licensure maintenance, and employment benefits. In order to succeed, health care systems must change their view of part-time surgeons, and proportional reduction of liability premiums must be addressed, since the evidence indicates that part-time surgeons perform just as well as full-time surgeons. The study was published in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

“Health care workforce paradigms are changing rapidly,” said lead author professor of clinical surgery Bhagwan Satiani, MD. “The trifecta of surgeons working fewer hours, subspecializing even more, and retiring earlier, will make it difficult to address the shortages we currently face. This study demonstrates that efficient part-time employment models can begin reducing shortages almost immediately.”

Opting to work part-time is gaining popularity among Generation X (currently ages 30 through early 40s) and Millennial physicians (currently mid to late 20s) who want to achieve a better work-life balance by working fewer hours than their predecessors. Having the option of a part-time schedule could encourage them to practice more years rather than outright retiring, a situation that would help address the looming shortages in several key surgical specialties. Recent assessments found that among physicians over the age of 50 (one-third of physicians), 42.6% stated they would remain active past retirement if part-time work were available.

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Ohio State University Medical Center