ArticleJTCVS open2025
Understanding our thoracic surgery workforce: Who, what, and where we practice.
Article in JTCVS open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: The makeup of the thoracic surgical workforce can influence policy, training, and certification, but it is not well defined. Using data from the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, this study explored practice-based demographics concerning geography, gender, age, subspecialty, and university affiliation. Methods: American Board of Thoracic Surgery Diplomates taking the 10-year Maintenance of Certification examination opted for the cardiac, general thoracic, cardiothoracic, or congenital modular exam. Using module selection as a surrogate for the examinee's predominant clinical practice, we explored the relationship regarding type of practice, geography (metropolitan vs other), gender, age, and university affiliation. Results: A total of 2273 American Board of Thoracic Surgery Diplomates took the Maintenance of Certification exam from 2018 to 2024. Adult cardiac surgery was the predominant subspecialty (46%), followed by cardiothoracic (24%), general thoracic (22%), and congenital surgery (8%). Significant gender disparity persisted, with women constituting 7% of certified Diplomates and 5% of adult cardiac surgeons. Mean ages ranged from 58.0 years (general thoracic) to 63.3 years (cardiothoracic), with younger surgeons trending toward specialized practices (cardiac Conclusions: Thoracic surgery is increasingly subspecializing, with younger surgeons choosing cardiac, general thoracic, or congenital surgery modular Maintenance of Certification exams. The percentage of female Diplomates remains low. Maintenance of Certification exam-eligible diplomates constitute a predominantly older workforce with noticeable urbanization. Understanding our workforce provides important insight for American Board of Thoracic Surgery certification, the development of training paradigms, and anticipating workforce 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.