Surgeon Risk of Mortality Is Highest Among All Physician Types

From Surgical Readings by The American College of Surgeons

January 7, 2026 · 14 min · Episode 22

About this episode

This episode discusses the high risk of mortality among surgeons compared to other physician types and explores potential mitigation strategies.

In this episode, host Rick Greene, MD, FACS, talks with Vishal R. Patel, MD, MPH, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, about a recent article in JAMA Surgery on Mortality Among Surgeons in the United States. Dr. Patel and colleagues found that, among all physician types, risk of mortality is highest among surgeons. Dr. Greene probes for the common causes of death among surgeons and what mitigation strategies can be put in place to change this somewhat surprising statistics. Talk about the podcast on social media using the hashtag #SurgicalReadings

People in this episode

Host: Rick Greene, MD, FACS

Guest: Vishal R. Patel, MD, MPH

Topics covered

surgeon mortality
health risks
medical statistics
mitigation strategies
surgical profession

Keywords

surgeon mortality
health risks
JAMA Surgery
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
medical statistics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, JAMA Surgery

Places: United States