Surgeons in an operating room |
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| Occupation | |
|---|---|
| Activity sectors | Medicine |
| Description | |
| Education required | Degree in medicine |
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage. Surgeons may be physicians, dentists, podiatrists or veterinarians.
Minimally invasive procedures such as the procedures of interventional radiology are sometimes described as "minimally invasive surgery." The field traditionally described as interventional neuroradiology, for instance, is increasingly called neurointerventional surgery.
Robotic surgery is an area of growing interest.
A study in the United States came to the result that surgeons in private practice had higher levels of distress and lower career satisfactions than those practicing in an academic setting.[1]
In 1800, the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) in London began to offer surgeons a formal status via RCS membership. The title Mister became a badge of honour, and today after someone graduates from medical school with the degrees MBBS or MB ChB, (or variants thereof) in these countries they are called "Doctor" until they are able, after at least four years' training, to obtain a surgical qualification: formerly Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons but also Member of the Royal College of Surgeons or a number of other diplomas, they are given the honour of being allowed to revert back to calling themselves Mr, Miss, Mrs or Ms in the course of their professional practice, but this time the meaning is different. Patients in the UK may assume that the change of title implies Consultant status (and some mistakenly think non-surgical consultants are Mr too), but the length of postgraduate medical training outside North America is such that a Mr (etc.) may be years away from obtaining such a post: many doctors used to obtain these qualifications in the Senior House Officer grade, and remain in that grade when they began sub-specialty training. The distinction of Mr (etc) is also used by surgeons in the Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and some other Commonwealth countries.[2]
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There are only about 1200 transplant surgeons.
Some medical doctors who are general practitioners or specialists in family medicine or emergency medicine may perform limited ranges of minor, common, or emergency surgery. Anesthesia often accompanies surgery, and anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists may oversee this aspect of surgery. First assistants, surgical nurses, surgical technologists and operating department practitioners are trained professionals who support surgeons.