A twenty-five year survey of a solo practice in rural surgical care.

A large proportion (55 million) of our population lives in rural America, but there is a paucity of published material regarding the surgical care of this large group. This report is based on 13,793 patients treated in a 50-bed rural hospital by one surgeon during a period of 25 years from 1967 to 1991. Gynecologic, obstetric, orthopedic and urologic surgical treatment accounted for 41 percent of extensive operations, but endoscopic procedures have been increasing in recent years. Good surgical results can be obtained in the smaller rural hospital, but more emphasis on broader training for the would-be rural surgeon is necessary for this to continue.