Study: COVID-19 has considerably impacted young arthroplasty surgeons
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a “considerable impact” on compensation, redeployment and career advancement for young arthroplasty surgeons who are in training or within the first 5 years of their career, according to published results.
Researchers surveyed 157 adult reconstruction surgeons of the Young Arthroplasty Group within the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons.
Brian M. Culp, MD, and Nicholas B. Frisch, MD, MBA, questioned residents on their career goals, future job acceptance and current scope of practice. Fellows were questioned on post-fellowship preparedness, job type and job opportunity, and early practice surgeons were questioned regarding compensation, employment status, career advancement and modification of practice.
Of the 39 residents assessed, seven were reassigned to COVID-19 care and two had job offers withdrawn as a result of the pandemic. Of the 15 fellows assessed, one noted a change to initial compensation. Of the 103 early career surgeons, 41 saw a decrease in income, five were repurposed to COVID-19 care and one lost employment, according to the study.
“Most young surgeons are still recovering from the financial debt associated with their training and may not have the fiscal reserves of their more senior colleagues,” the researchers wrote in the study. “They are at a higher risk of financial hardship due to the crisis. As noted in this report, 40% had decreased monetary compensation and another 15% had no monetary compensation. This 54% of our group may not have the financial savings and/or stability to be able to weather this storm and may be forced to seek alternative avenues for loans or compensation,” the researchers wrote.
“Orthopedic practices should be conscious of these implications on young arthroplasty surgeons, and extend additional resources including loans, counseling or educational support as they face the current COVID-19 crisis in a different way than their more seasoned colleagues,” they concluded.
Perspective
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While much has been written on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitals and orthopedic practices, Drs. Culp and Frisch present a timely study on its impact on young career surgeons. Medicine has long been seen as a "recession-proof" profession, as if providing quality health care to our patients should be immune to economic downtowns. With the pause in elective surgical procedures, however, the authors point out that many younger-career arthroplasty surgeons have seen their financial compensation substantially reduced, with many working for no pay. One-quarter of survey respondents also traded their surgical tools for stethoscopes, caring for hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The study highlights that we should not forget about the young orthopedic surgeons who are the workhorses for many orthopedic practices, taking a lot of call and performing the more difficult cases.
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