General Surgery is a Surgical Specialty
What is a General Surgeon?
A General Surgeon is an expert medical professional who is qualified and trained in the perioperative management of a patient. General Surgeons must maintain a broad knowledge of anatomy, physiology, emergency, and intensive care, metabolism, nutrition, pathology, shock, resuscitation, and wound healing. The specialty of General Surgery includes performing many types of surgical procedures to diagnose, manage, and treat a broad range of health problems and diseases. General Surgeons not only conduct surgeries for many common ailments but are also responsible for patient care before, during, and after those surgical procedures.
What Education and Training does a General Surgeon have?
General Surgery is a distinct specialty. Many people get the name “General Surgeon” confused with “General Practitioner”. Only a doctor that has completed an accredited 5-year residency training in general surgery can be called a General Surgeon. Those 5 years of training are completed after medical school, so the typical General Surgeon has completed at least 9 years of medical training after college. Many have done an extra 2 years or more of laboratory research time during their residency or prior to their residency.
What does a General Surgeon do During their Residency?
During a general surgery residency, residents rotate through sub-specialty programs such as pediatric surgery, vascular surgery, cardiothoracic, and transplant surgery. This allows the general surgery resident to perform these surgeries in training and specific numbers of these surgeries must be performed. Bowel, breast and usually trauma and emergency surgeries are done throughout the residency.