The third manpower study of thoracic surgery: 1980 report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Manpower of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

An ad hoc committee was appointed by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) in 1977 in order to determine the available manpower and workload of thoracic surgeons in 1976. This committee conducted a survey of the professional activities and geographic location of all known surgeons certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) at that time. A summary of this study indicated the available and projected thoracic surgery manpower. The report also determined the present and projected health care needs of the population of the United States through 1993. Because thoracic surgery needs to continue to meet the health care needs of the United States in an appropriate yet economical fashion, the STS and The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) undertook a joint review to determine again the available manpower and its workload in calendar year 1980. In addition, this study compared its findings with the 1976 report in order to detect changes in the workload and need for thoracic surgical services. A questionnaire was mailed to 3,584 certified thoracic surgeons. There were 2,675 responses. The material was sent to the Academic Computer Services at George Washington University Medical Center for tabulation and data processing. This report summarizes the results of this survey. It also compares these data with those obtained in the 1976 study and, based on this information, attempts to project the thoracic surgery manpower needs in the next decade by using several hypothetical models.