title: Surgery in Australia.
abstract: More than 4000 surgeons in Australia provide services to 17.6 million people living in the world's driest continent, with a land mass comparable to that of the United States. The problem of distance has been overcome in large part for the 17% of the population who live in remote areas by modern communication systems and by the Flying Doctor and Flying Surgeon services. For the remaining population, largely clustered on the fertile eastern seaboard, surgical services rival the best in the world, and surgical training, under the control of The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, has set an example for which Australia can be justifiably proud.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Australia.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Clunie
mesh_terms: D017732:Air Ambulances; D001315:Australia; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education / Q000266:history; D005843:Geography; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007359:Insurance, Surgical; D010820:Physicians / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000266:history; D000078329:Workforce