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A profile of rural surgeons in Australia
Author(s) -
Bruening Martin H,
Maddern Guy J,
Jepson R P
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1998.tb140286.x
Subject(s) - nominate , economic shortage , workforce , work (physics) , medicine , rural area , work hours , family medicine , isolation (microbiology) , medical education , socioeconomics , political science , sociology , engineering , mechanical engineering , linguistics , statistics , philosophy , mathematics , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , government (linguistics) , biology , law
Objectives: To develop a profile of rural surgeons for comparison with profiles of rural general practitioners in the light of shortages in the rural medical workforce. Design: Rural surgeons were surveyed by a postal questionnaire in November 1997. Participants: Members of the Provincial Surgeons of Australia residing in towns with fewer than 50000 inhabitants. Results: 239 questionnaires were sent and 137 surgeons replied, a response rate of 59%. Our survey showed that rural surgeons are predominantly male, middle‐aged and married. They work long hours, and nominate as their major concerns difficulty in finding locum cover, continual on‐call work, peer isolation, children's schooling, and lack of privacy. Conclusion: Rural surgeons and general practitioners share similar characteristics and concerns.