This page compares two distinct NUCC-taxonomy specialties tracked by the CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System: Hospice and Palliative Medicine (Surgery) Physician, which currently counts 37 enrolled providers across 21 U.S. states and territories, and Surgery Physician, with 36,199 providers across 56 states. Each clinician on these rosters selected a primary NUCC code at NPI enrollment, so the totals measure how many providers self-identify their primary practice as Hospice and Palliative Medicine (Surgery) Physician or Surgery Physician rather than the total population ever trained or credentialed in either field — dual-certified clinicians show up under whichever code they registered first.

On national volume, Surgery Physician carries the larger provider roster (36,199 vs 37), and Surgery Physician has the wider geographic footprint at 56 states versus 21. The top Hospice and Palliative Medicine (Surgery) Physician concentration sits in California (5 providers), while Surgery Physician peaks in California (3,342). The per-capita columns in the table below normalize each state's raw count against 2023 Census population estimates, which matters because absolute provider counts track population scale first and specialty density second — a small state with a strong training pipeline can out-rank a larger state on per-100K availability.

Use this comparison to understand relative availability, not to judge clinical substitutability — Hospice and Palliative Medicine (Surgery) Physician and Surgery Physician are distinct specialties with different scopes of practice, training requirements, and conditions they treat, even when their NUCC categories overlap. Important: PlainDoctor is a directory of publicly available CMS government data, not medical advice, a provider rating, or a recommendation about which specialty a patient should consult. Always work with a licensed clinician to determine which specialty is appropriate for your condition, verify any specific provider through the NPPES NPI Registry and the relevant state medical board, and consult the NUCC taxonomy documentation for the formal scope-of-practice definitions behind each specialty code.