Orthopaedic Specialist Registrar training and attitudes to spine surgery in the United Kingdom: reasons for poor recruitment and suggestions for improvement.

In order to improve the provision of spinal surgery in the United Kingdom, the number of Specialist Spinal Surgeons and Surgeons with an Interest in Spinal Surgery needs to increase by 25% from the existing 175 surgeons. A survey of Specialist Orthopaedic Registrars was performed, which quantifies the predicted shortfall in the number intending to practise spinal surgery. The attitudes towards and perceptions of this field were obtained to identify factors that could be discouraging an interest in spine surgery.