Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, University of Washington School of Medicine, 112 1660 South Columbian Way, Seattle, WA 98108, USA.
Surg Clin North Am. 2009 Dec;89(6):1285-91, vii. doi: 10.1016/j.suc.2009.07.003.
Almost one quarter of America's population and one third of its landmass are defined as rural and served by approximately 20% of the nation's general surgeons. General surgeons are the backbone of the rural health workforce. There is significant maldistribution of general surgeons across regions and different types of rural areas. Rural areas have markedly fewer surgeons per population than the national average. The demography of the rural general surgery workforce differs substantially from the urban general surgery workforce, raising concerns about the extent to which general surgical services can be maintained in rural areas of the United States.
美国约四分之一的人口和三分之一的土地被定义为农村地区，由全国大约 20%的普通外科医生提供服务。普通外科医生是农村卫生劳动力的中坚力量。普通外科医生在各地区和不同类型的农村地区的分布极不均衡。农村地区的人口每千人拥有的外科医生明显少于全国平均水平。农村普通外科医生劳动力的人口统计学特征与城市普通外科医生劳动力有很大的不同，这让人担忧美国农村地区的普通外科服务能够维持到何种程度。
