This comprehensive report presents information about the surgical workforce and its distribution, along with details about surgical training and examination results. The data is captured from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 and provides a comparison of information from 2021.
If you are a government health department; or related agency; or interested in surgical or RACS activities, then the Activities Report provides you with invaluable insights that can contribute to decision-making, reporting and research.
Key findings
In the report, there is a range of insightful data available from across RACS in the areas of skills training, specialist international medical graduates, surgical education and training, examinations, workforce distribution and professional development and standards. We have summarised some key findings below.
Fellowship and Trainee admissions
In 2022, RACS admitted 268 new Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Fellows. We also have 1264 surgical Trainees.
Women in surgical education training (SET) and workforce
The number of female surgeons in active practice increased by over five per cent in the last year, with women making up over 15 per cent of the active surgical workforce. Just over 23 per cent of those obtaining RACS Fellowship in 2022 were female.
The number of individual women applicants for SET has increased to over 37 per cent for all individual applicants. There were 284 applicants who were offered a Trainee position in 2022. A total of 31 per cent of successful applicants were female in 2022.
Additionally, 26 Trainees were approved for flexible training (less than full-time training), with 73 per cent being women.
Rural and remote surgical workforce
This report, in conjunction with previous activity reports also emphasises the disparities in access to quality healthcare experienced by individuals residing in remote, rural, and regional areas of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Nearly 86 per cent of Fellows are located in metropolitan areas in Australia, while only 72 per cent of the Australian population live in the cities.
In response to the rural and regional statistics identified in the report, RACS President Kerin Feilding said that the College remains unwavering in its commitment to its rural strategy, which aims to strengthen the rural surgical workforce, address workforce imbalances, and promote the development of a sustainable surgical workforce.
Surgical Education Training (SET)
Applications for the SET program remain highly competitive with 799 applications across the nine specialties received in 2022. Of these, 284 applicants were offered a training position.
If you have any questions about the report, email monique.whear@surgeons.org.
You can find the report on the RACS website, Workforce and Activities Report.