Nearly one in 10 surgeons leave active clinical practice within eight years, and the rate is much higher for oral and maxillofacial surgeons, according to a new study from the American College of Surgeons.
In the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, researchers created a cohort of more than 224,000 unique surgeons across 19 specialties between 2013 and 2023.
Here are five notes on the study’s findings:
- There was an overall cumulative attrition rate of 9.7% over eight years.
- Oral and maxillofacial surgery had the highest five-year attrition rate of any surgical speciality at 25.1%.
- Obstetrics and gynecology was the only other speciality with an attrition rate of more than 20%.
- Surgeons with five to nine years of practice were the most likely group to stop practicing.
- The number of active surgeons ranged from 154,000 to 157,000 annually during the study.
Read the full study here.
