Surgery News - August 2008 - (Page 14) 14 ONCOLOGY SURGERY NEWS • A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 Workforce Shortage Will Redirect Surgical Oncology BY KERRI WACHTER Else vier Global Medical Ne ws B A L T I M O R E — The impending workforce shortage in surgical oncology calls for some rethinking of training, outreach, and surgical approaches to cancer, according to Dr. William Cance. Baby boomers will start to retire around 2010, and the demand for cancer care will be unprecedented. “But the general surgery workforce will be critically low [and] general surgeons do the majority of cancer care. Right now we can’t train enough surgeons to meet the demand,” Dr. Cance said at a meeting sponsored by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer. Dr. Cance, incoming president of the Society of Surgical Oncology, said the SSO is working on major initiatives to ease the workforce shortage. The first goal of the SSO’s strategic plan for 2007-2010 is to include community and international sur- geons to a greater extent, notably by developing programs that are relevant to the community practice environment. The SSO also plans to expand membership to surgical oncologists practicing outside SURGERY WILL BE USED AS A MAINSTAY OF THERAPY, BUT TUMORS WILL BE DOWNSTAGED, MAKING SURGERY LESS INVASIVE. North America and to establish educational collaborations with other surgical oncology societies worldwide. It’s unclear whether an 80-hour workweek provides adequate training for a field that is becoming increasingly complex. Yet work-hour limitations provide an incentive for lifestyle-conscious trainees. “On the one hand, you have a reduced work-hour requirement, but at the same time you are attracting more interest. One of the issues that will be debated is how many years it will take to train a surgeon,” said Dr. Cance. Whether there should be certification for surgical oncology is also debatable. While certification could advance the specialty, it presents the problem of how to maintain the role of community surgeons in cancer care, said Dr. Cance, an ACS Fellow who is also chair of the department of surgery at the University of Florida in Gainesville. And “there just aren’t enough fellowship slots to meet the need for surgical oncology training,” he added. Progress in technology—minimally invasive approaches and drug development—may be one way to head off the impending shortage. “Developments in technology and drug care will be the major contributing forces to better cancer care,” Dr. Cance said. “I think there will be more of a movement toward neoadjuvant therapy of cancer, whereby less toxic but more effective drugs will be given first,” he said in an interview. Neoadjuvant therapy is already used in breast, esophageal, and rectal cancers. In addition, newer drugs are likely to be molecularly targeted, less toxic, and more effective. “Surgery will be used as a mainstay of therapy, but I believe that tumors will be downstaged prior to operation, making surgery less invasive. At the same time, the rapid pace of technological advancements will continue to make surgery safer and easier for the patient,” Dr. Cance said. But there is a need to integrate minimally invasive techniques into postgraduate surgical oncology training. “Right now, the two are fairly separate. We have surgical oncology on the one hand and minimally invasive surgery on the other hand. We have to figure out how to meld the two,” Dr. Cance said. ■ CLASSIFIEDS A l s o a v a i l a b l e a t w w w. e l s e v i e r h e a l t h c a r e e r s . c o m PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES Disclaimer SURGERY NEWS assumes the statements made in classified advertisements are accurate, but cannot investigate the statements and assumes no responsibility or liability concerning their content. The Publisher reserves the right to decline, withdraw, or edit advertisements. Every effort will be made to avoid mistakes, but responsibility cannot be accepted for clerical or printer errors. CLASSIFIED DEADLINES AND INFORMATION: Contact: Danny Wang, Elsevier-Surgery News, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010. (212) 633-3158, FAX: (212) 633-3820. Email ad to: d.wang@elsevier.com http://www.elsevierhealthcareers.com http://HCAgeneral2.recruital.org http://HCAgeneral2.recruital.org
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Surgery News - August 2008 Surgery News - August 2008 Contents The 20/20 Vision: Making Amends News From the College: Dedicated Effort Opinion: NOTESworthy? Pediatric Surgery: Burn Remedy Surgery News - August 2008 Surgery News - August 2008 - Contents (Page 1) Surgery News - August 2008 - Contents (Page 2) Surgery News - August 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Surgery News - August 2008 - Contents (Page 4) Surgery News - August 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Surgery News - August 2008 - The 20/20 Vision: Making Amends (Page 6) Surgery News - August 2008 - The 20/20 Vision: Making Amends (Page 7) Surgery News - August 2008 - News From the College: Dedicated Effort (Page 8) Surgery News - August 2008 - News From the College: Dedicated Effort (Page 9) Surgery News - August 2008 - News From the College: Dedicated Effort (Page 10) Surgery News - August 2008 - News From the College: Dedicated Effort (Page 11) Surgery News - August 2008 - Opinion: NOTESworthy? (Page 12) Surgery News - August 2008 - Pediatric Surgery: Burn Remedy (Page 13) Surgery News - August 2008 - Pediatric Surgery: Burn Remedy (Page 14) Surgery News - August 2008 - Pediatric Surgery: Burn Remedy (Page 15) Surgery News - August 2008 - Pediatric Surgery: Burn Remedy (Page 16)
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