Surgical Doctor

Job Description

What do surgeons do day in, day out Where are the best practice opportunities The job description for surgeons varies depending on what environment they are practicing in. Many surgeons find themselves in a multifaceted career that allows them to put their skills to good use in a combination of workplace settings. Although the workplace settings may vary, one factor remains the same: the surgical profession is one of responsibility and leadership. The surgeon is responsible for the preoperative diagnosis of the patient, for performing the operation, and for providing the patient with postoperative surgical care and treatment. The surgeon is also looked upon as the leader of the surgical team.During the course of an operation, the surgeon must make important decisions about the patients health, safety, and welfare. Furthermore, the surgeon must work to ensure cooperation among the other members of the surgical team, which typically includes another surgeon or qualified person who acts as the surgeons assistant, the anesthesiologist, and operating room nurses.There are seven major settings in which surgeons can put their education, training, and skills to valuable use: private practice, academic medicine, institutional practice, hospitals, ambulatory surgery settings, government service programs, and the uniformed services.Private PracticeCenters around patient careProvides for more professional independenceAllows freedom to decide the organization of the practice, as well as the hours, the hospitals in which the surgeon practices, and the type of patients that are attractedTends to encourage long-term relationships with patientsRequires business management skills and strong professional relationships with referring physiciansIncludes responsibilities for providing the surgeons own employment benefitsSuits surgeons with a strong and enthusiastic interest in patient-care activitiesProvides the opportunity to perform ambulatory, or office-based, surgeriesOffers the option for managed care contractsAcademic MedicineCombines teaching, patient care, and medical researchPlaces the surgeon in an environment that is known for being in the forefront of scientific breakthroughs and for taking the initiative in developing experimental therapiesFocuses on research, thus, these hospitals attract patients with diseases and disorders that are less likely to be found in a traditional private or group practiceSuits a surgeon who is interested in a broad exposure to a diverse range of clinical casesAllows surgeons to become part of a research community, where they are expected to conduct clinical investigations; often advancement in this type of practice environment is linked to successful research effortsEmphasizes teaching and provides vitally important leadership and guidance to medical students and residentsInstitutional PracticeOffers full-time practice that is directly affiliated with a particular hospital or clinicPlaces emphasis exclusively on patient care; and offers the option of combining patient care with research and educational activitiesEstablishes goals and a mission which should be carefully considered and should match the surgeons career interestsCreates an image that could have an impact on the surgeons practice, i.e.internationally renowned institutions attract more complicated and atypical cases than a private practiceOffers an established practice with the necessary administrative and business systems already in placeProvides health-care coverage, malpractice insurance, and retirement savings programsAllows for a more flexible schedule depending on the number of surgeons on staff who can provide coverage, but could create restrictions on certain activities, such as scheduling vacation time depending on availability of coverageRequires that surgeons abide by certain rules and regulations set forth to make the group function as a wholeSuits surgeons who welcome the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of whatever is going on in the fieldHospitalsConstitute the central focus for most of the surgeons work, in spite of the increase in ambulatory surgical careSurgeons spend more time working in the hospital than do physicians on other specialtiesProvides a variety of career choices for surgeons due to individual hospital diversity including: size, urban or rural, government-sponsored or privately owned, specializing in certain areas of medicine (i.e. cancer treatment), or only serving patients of certain age groups (i.e. childrens hospitals)Offers a wide variety of choices for a hospital-based practice, through exposure to different hospital environments during medical school

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