Abstract for: A System Dynamic Modeling Approach to addressing the Surgical Workforce Crisis

Current workforce shortages in general surgery have been well documented. The reasons are multiple, including geography, lifestyle concerns, training paradigms, and increasingly challenging regulations and litigiousness leading to retirements, as well as departures for nonclinical roles. We evaluated potential policy initiatives that might improve the current surgical workforce crisis in the US. As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across the world, there is growing concern about the adequacy of our healthcare workforce to meet the rapidly increasing demand for services. The increasing toll the virus is taking on the healthcare workforce itself is also a cause for great concern. Training surgeons is a lengthy and resource intensive process that requires careful consideration of policies that will help to ensure equitable, high-quality care for patients. This model is a novel application of system dynamics modeling to the surgical workforce and could help to inform critical healthcare policy decisions.