1- Why do general surgeons have the reputation of being unhappy (this was mentioned on this forum not too long ago).
Surveys do show a fairly high rate of unhappiness amongst all physicians but general surgeons are frequently near the top. Commonly stated reasons:
declining reimbursement
more work (including more ED call as fewer and fewer physicians take it)
sicker patients
less respect from public
more lawsuits
increasing malpractice rates
losing part of the "pie" to subspecialists
I spoke to a cheif resident at my school and he said that it is not true, and that you make of it what you want. He said you could work 4 days a week and still make a descent living.
Your Chief is likely uninformed if he doesn't realize that a lot of general surgeons ARE unhappy, especially those that trained many years ago and have seen the declines above first-hand. However, that doesn't mean that you are destined to be unhappy or have to settle for a harder life than you wish. It is possible to work part time or fewer hours than your colleagues. Whether or not you make a "decent" living, depends on what your definition of decent is. Most surgeons are not interested in working part time and there is probably some stigma against anyone who suggests it. Believe me, those of us in "lifestyle" surgical specialties get a lot of grief about it.
But if you wish to work less than the average surgeon and understand that this may mean a lower salary and perhaps a harder time finding a group to join, it it certainly possible. I think as more women enter the field we will see more groups offering such opportunties. It can be a tough sell because unless you work less than 20 hours per week, your malpractice insurance rates are the same as your full time colleagues...they are likely to want you to work as much as they do to pay for that (presuming your group splits the cost of the insurance).
2- Is the future of general (and other types of) surgery laproscopics only? I have observed a few laproscopic procedures and few invasive ones. I am more interested in the invasive procedures (I just think they are exciting). Thoughts? Will general (or other) surgeons predominantly prefor laproscopic procedures in the next ten years? Will there still be a need for some of the invasive procedures? Thanks.
Absolutely not. There are many procedures which just are not conducive to minimally invasive approaches. We discussed this in a lengthy thread with Cheisu just a couple of months back...I'm sure if you do a search you will find the thread. Many general surgeons do not prefer lap procedures, but like the open ones and as always, even if the MIS is the standard, you still must be able to perform the operation in an open fashion. There are many instances in which you start MIS and cannot perform the operation in that fashion or have a complication which requires opening.
