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Survey of Australian senior surgeons’ views on retirement

RACS releases results of a survey of Australian senior surgeons’ views about retirement

In April 2021, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) surveyed Australian Fellows (65+ years of age) regarding their retirement plans; potential plans for continued work; and their concerns, with a specific focus on medical registration, medical indemnity insurance and continued professional development. A 2020 workforce census report showed that close to 39 per cent of surgeons are over the age of 55, and 17.4 per cent are aged 65 years or older (defined as senior surgeons), with research indicating one in four surgeons are planning to retire within five years. As this substantial proportion of highly experienced surgeons approach or consider retirement, surgical workforce modelling carried out by RACS has warned of a workforce shortage crisis by 2025. The modelling showed that to avert the crisis, there was a need for a further 80 surgeons per year to enter the workforce, in addition to the average yearly 184 new surgical graduates, an increase of over 43 per cent. However, training new surgeons comes at high cost, estimated to be over A$900,000 per surgeon. Within this context, the continued contribution of senior surgeons is highly valued with regard to various aspects of surgical work, including clinical practice, mentorship, teaching, management, governance, as well as help with the retention and career progression of younger surgeons. However, transition to retirement and maintaining some participation in the workforce can be a complicated process, with major concerns regarding financial and medicolegal issues, among others. In addition to the cost of compulsory full medical registration, which requires the often high cost of medical indemnity insurance. In addition, there are other requirements that must be met by senior surgeons who wish to participate in the workforce albeit in a more restricted scope, such as recency of practice and continued professional development. As an initial step towards understanding the perspective of senior surgeons, the RACS Senior Surgeons Section Committee commissioned a research project. A survey was sent to all Australian senior surgeons (aged 65 years or above) regarding retirement plans/status, potential plans/desire for continued work, and any concerns they might have, with specific focus on medical registration, medical indemnity insurance and continued professional development. The RACS Senior Surgeons Section Committee is pleased to present the results of this research to the surgical community. Please read the RACS Senior Surgeons Section, MDO Report here https://bit.ly/3N1P698 The Committee is developing a strategy to include the valuable perspectives of the New Zealand Fellowship in our work and to further explore the themes, opportunities and challenges raised in this report.

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Authored by: Senior Surgeons Section Committee, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

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