ReviewCureus2025
Too Many Applicants, Too Few Training Posts: A Literature Review on the Imbalance Threatening Surgical Care in the United Kingdom.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- The global surgical workforce crisis: narrative review of the role of surgical educator development and technological innovations.Surgery today · 2026Review
- How do mature non-graduate students compare to the rest of the cohort in medical training? A UKMED study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In the United Kingdom, surgery remains a highly popular speciality choice among medical graduates, yet prospective trainees face intense competition and limited training posts. The growing imbalance between the number of applicants and the available Core Surgical Training (CST) positions has created significant challenges for the surgical workforce pipeline. This literature review examines how increased competition and constrained training capacity create barriers for prospective trainees, impact the surgical workforce, and have downstream effects on patient care. Drawing on recent peer-reviewed studies, government reports, and workforce analyses, the current literature highlights that hyper-competition in surgical training amplifies burnout among trainees, while unfilled clinical demand exacerbates NHS waiting lists and spurs the outsourcing of surgical services. Policy experts emphasise that without expanding training posts and improving workforce planning, the United Kingdom risks a worsening shortage of surgeons, slower innovation, and compromised care quality. We conclude that strategic investments, increasing CST and Higher Speciality Training (HST) positions, supporting trainee well-being, and promoting flexible training pathways are needed to build a sustainable surgical workforce that meets population needs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.