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Rebecca Voelker

JAMA. 2009;302(14):1520-1521.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Since the economic nosedive began, orthopedic surgeon Thomas Fehring, MD, has watched his 3-month patient wait list for joint replacement surgery shrink to about 6 weeks. Facing a recession, some patients will delay elective surgical procedures and some surgeons may postpone retirement as they wait for the economy to rebound. But Fehring and others say the country's economic woes cannot derail a projected shortage of surgeons that will endanger patient care in the coming years.

Many national experts say trends point to an upcoming shortage of surgeons as the US population increases and grows older.

"There's a looming crisis," says Fehring, of OrthoCarolina Hip and Knee Center in Charlotte, NC.

During the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons' annual meeting earlier this year, Fehring presented a workforce analysis based on data from the academy. His calculations show that if recent trends continue in numbers of joint replacements performed annually, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

PERFECT STORM



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