The healthcare industry has been struggling with major burnout, staffing and retention issues since the COVID-19 pandemic, and orthopedic surgeons are not immune.
Here are seven statistics that are troubling industry specialists:
1. Through October of this year, 126 hospital CEOs have made exits, signaling a major turnover trend in healthcare. The number has grown 62% since 2022.
2. A deficit of 5,050 orthopedic surgeons is projected through 2025.
3. Orthopedic surgeons have a burnout rate of 30% to 40%, with orthopedic residents having a burnout rate of 50%, according to a Dec. 14 report from workerscompensation.com.
4. Orthopedic surgeons aged 45 and older have 1.5 to three times higher rates of suicidal ideation than the general public.
5. Orthopedic surgeons acount for the largest percentage of physician suicides, making up 28.2% from 2003 to 2017.
6. The number of practicing orthopedic surgeons dropped 4.3% from 2020 to 2023.
7. The average joint replacement caseload for an orthopedic surgeon in 2017 was 65.2 procedures, and by 2050, the number is expected to increase to 139.4.