We are working on a consistent set of FAQs for all specialties as part of a revamp of the
Specialty Selector.
If you are a practicing General Surgeon, please share your expertise by answering these questions.
Thank you in advance for considering this opportunity to give back to the SDN community!
- What is unique or special about this specialty?
- What other specialties did you consider and why did you pick this one?
- What challenges will this specialty face in the next 10 years?
- What are common practice settings for this specialty?
- How challenging or easy is it to match in this specialty?
- What excites you most about your specialty in the next 5, 10, 15 years from now?
- Does your specialty currently use or do you foresee the incorporation of technology such as Artificial Intelligence?
- What are some typical traits to be successful in this specialty? (For example, organization skills, work independently)
- What does a typical workday consist of in your specialty?
- What is the career progression for your specialty?
- How has your work impacted your life dynamics? What is your work-life balance?
- How does healthcare policy impact your specialty?
When practiced in a smaller town general surgery allows you a broad based practice (but in big cities the subspecialists will take a lot of the variety)
I wanted to do ortho but couldn't match in it and decided I would rather accept my second choice of gen surg and move forward rather than spend years trying to get in. Gen surg was my second choice because I like operating but felt like ortho would be more straightforward (bone broke, me fix). Turns our gen surg is pretty straightforward too which I like.
Reimbursement is probably the biggest challenge coming up in the next 10 yrs
Can do private practice, group practice, and employment
It is moderate difficulty match (definitely easier than ortho but not as easy as some specialities)
I don't have an answer for what excites me about the future. I enjoy what I do now and will continue to work as long as I enjoy it.
I don't use any AI. I guess some people use it for chatting.
Typical traits for being successful would include thick skin, confidence (though that can be developed if lacking initially), and a good work ethic
Typical workday is busy but I am in private practice and work part time because that is what I want out of life and am willing to reduce my income for it.
Not sure what is the career progression for academic folks. I spent the first few years of practice taking a lot of call and being on hospital committees. Then I was elected chief of surgery and recently quit taking call.
My work life balance is great because I prioritize it. Even in residency I took two weeks of vacation a year. Now it is more like 5-6 weeks. But I know others who don't prioritize it and were on call when their wife went into labor and were on call within a few weeks after.
Healthcare policy affects me when reimbursement gets fiddled with and when more stuff is subject to arbitrary prior auth.
