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The Calling of Rural Surgery


 

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Recruitment of surgeons to rural hospitals is a challenge for many communities. As the current workforce of rural surgeons reaches retirement age, this challenge will only become more acute.

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and Corrado Studios have collaborated to create “The Calling of Rural Surgery,” a 6-minute recruitment video to inspire interest and appreciation of rural surgery as a career choice. This film is a peek into the world of surgeons practicing in small towns and rural areas. It premiered at the Rural Surgeons Open Forum and Oweida Scholarship Presentation at the ACS Clinical Congress 2015 in Chicago.

“The Calling of Rural Surgery,” a collaboration of the American College of Surgery and Corrado Studies, is a 6-minute recruitment video to inspire interest and appreciation of rural surgery as a career choice. Courtesy ACS/Corrado Studios

“The Calling of Rural Surgery,” a collaboration of the American College of Surgery and Corrado Studies, is a 6-minute recruitment video to inspire interest and appreciation of rural surgery as a career choice.

The video producer, Meredith Corrado, said, “Our goals are not just to recruit surgeons to practice in the rural and underserved areas in America [but to] put our message in front of fledgling surgeons deciding on a career path, [and] those experienced surgeons looking for change.”

Ms. Corrado interviewed ACS fellows, members of the college’s Advisory Council for Rural Surgery, past ACS governors, and an ACS past vice president. Her father, Dr. Joseph Corrado, a surgeon practicing in Mexico, Mo., was a source of insight into the work life of rural surgeons

Dr. Corrado said, “The problem of succession will be critical, especially for hospitals like my own with only one or two surgeons. One thing that makes it particularly hard is that we want the best. My friends and neighbors are counting on my judgment, so I’m picky.”

He wants potential recruits to know that rural practice is “extremely rewarding. You are an integral part of a community in all aspects: economically, socially and medically. You have the ability to choose from a wide variety in how broad you want your practice to be.” In addition, he is confident that exposure to the rural surgical practice will draw the right recruits. “Once a surgeon is able to see all the surgeries we get to do and how rewarding our lives are, the right person will not be able to walk away.”

View the video at www.ruralsurgeonsfilm.com.

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