The changing landscape of orthopaedic surgery in Ontario: Where we are, where we have been, and where we are going.
Abstract
Orthopedic surgery is a field which has often been talked about with regards to surgeon underemployment. This is particularly important given the paradoxical increasing demand for orthopedic care. There has not been well studied literature understanding the state of orthopedic surgery training in Ontario, Canada. Using a combination of various databases and surveying surgeons trained in Ontario we sought to provide some insight.
We demonstrated multiple important findings. More recent graduates are feeling less ready to enter practice and almost all graduates do at least 1 fellowship, with equal amount of 1 versus 2 fellowships. We showed an effect of school of graduation on likelihood of emigrating out of Ontario. More recent graduates are more likely to emigrate out of necessity, and less likely to pursue a graduate degree out of interest. Despite all the challenges, however, orthopedic surgeons remain satisfied with their work.