ArticleThe American surgeon2022
The Shortage of Trauma Surgeons in the US.
Article in The American surgeon, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It carries an expression of concern. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Electronic Health Record Workflows in Acute Care Surgery: Ethnographic Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2026Article
- Identifying the Surgical to Nonsurgical Care Transition for Trauma Patients: Time to Redesign Trauma Workflow.The American surgeon · 2026Article
- Review
- Keeping Open Surgery Alive: A Competency-Based Approach to Elevating Resident Skills.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2025Article
- Beyond capacity: an EAST multicenter mixed-methods study exploring surgeon perceptions on patient ratios in acute care surgery.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2025Article
- Power of mentorship for recruitment and retainment of trauma staff.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2025Article
- Physician and Practice Characteristics Influencing Telemedicine Uptake Among Frontline Clinicians in the Early COVID-19 Pandemic Response: National Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Application of Virtual Reality Systems in Bone Trauma Procedures.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Operation of national coordinating service for interhospital transfer from emergency departments: experience and implications from Korea.BMC emergency medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Expression of concern
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAs the United States (US) population increases, the demand for more trauma surgeons (TSs) will increase. There are no recent studies comparing the TS density temporally and geographically. We aim to evaluate the density and distribution of TSs by state and region and its impact on trauma patient mortality.
methodsA retrospective cohort analysis of the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile (PM), 2016 US Census Bureau, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC's) Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) to determine TS density. TS density was calculated by dividing the number of TSs per 1 000 000 population at the state level, and divided by 500 admissions at the regional level. Trauma-related mortality by state was obtained through the CDC's WISQARS database, which allowed us to estimate trauma mortality per 100 000 population.
resultsFrom 2007 to 2014, the net increase of TS was 3160 but only a net increase of 124 TSs from 2014 to 2020. Overall, the US has 12.58 TSs/1 000 000 population. TS density plateaued from 2014 to 2020. 33% of states have a TS density of 6-10/1 000 000 population, 43% have a density of 10-15, 12% have 15-20, and 12% have a density >20. The Northeast has the highest density of TSs per region (2.95/500 admissions), while the Midwest had the lowest (1.93/500 admissions).
conclusionThe density of TSs in the US varies geographically, has plateaued nationally, and has implications on trauma patient mortality. Future studies should further investigate causes of the TS shortage and implement institutional and educational interventions to properly distribute TSs across the US and reduce geographic disparities.
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