Surgery as a Career Option- Complete Guidance by Dr. Pritesh Singh

As a surgeon, you’ll be specialized to operate on patients to repair injuries, abnormalities, and conduct rehabilitation procedures for such patients. You have options to specialize in fields such as orthopedic, cardiothoracic, or neurological and also perform advisory roles in the same. Nowadays, surgeons have minimized their efforts on cutting and have started using new technologies such as scopes and lasers. Their work is also getting transformed with 3D printed implants with layers of living cells and robots conducting micro-surgeries. Thus, there has been a significant advancement of technology in this field which is towards reducing errors in judgment.

With technology making its way in this field, surgery is becoming an area with sophisticated technology. With new specialization such as Reconstructive Surgery, surgeons have to be on their toes to deliver without any errors. If you have the zeal to adapt to contemporary practices, then this is the branch for you.

We usually get numerous queries from the student enquiring about the career prospects of various branches. To put an end to all your Surgery queries, we approached Dr. Pritesh Singh, our leading surgery faculty to guide our students with Pros & Cons of choosing Surgery as a career option.

Surgery an evergreen branch: Surgery as a career opens a wide range of options for you as it’s an evergreen branch, which gives you the liberty of practicing both in urban and suburban areas.

A rewarding branch: Surgery is the most rewarding branch, financially. So, if you are a hardworking person then it would be best to opt for surgery. All your hard work will pay off well.

A promising branch for Females: Surgery a good branch for females as they have fine skills. Also, know that there’s no discrimination in this field. You will be rewarded for all the hard work. There might be some discrimination in smaller cities but that would be from the patient’s side and never from the surgeon’s side.

Choose a Metro city over a periphery area

Some students get confused about whether to study from a Metro city or a periphery area. There are certain factors that you should keep in mind before choosing surgery from an institute:

- Stipend,

- Bond Status,

- Exposure to surgery,

- Quality of life,

-Working environment.

Out of this bond, status is very important. Make sure to check the bond years before choosing a particular institute.

Some drawbacks of choosing Surgery

A mentor is a must:

For you to become a good surgeon, you require a mentor or a guide to teach you the clinical practice that isn’t always available.

Setting up a private practice takes a lot of time:

Setting up a private practice takes longer than usual, about four decades by the time you are acquiring your surgical skills.

Not a branch for people with Parkison’s disease, Asthma, color blindness, and Chronic backache:

Having such conditions creates self-doubt in a person which is the biggest hurdle in achieving success. It would be better to opt for a non-surgical branch than a surgical one if you have Parkison’s disease, Asthma, color blindness, and chronic backache.

6 Year DNB courses:

Opt for DNB six-year courses only if you are passionate about your particular branch. Talk to the residents before joining, if not then you’ll be stuck with the branch for six years. That’s why there’s a high drop out rate in DNB. Also, the hospital tends to use you for six years as cheap labor.

Also Read: Trimodal Mortality Model For Trauma - NEET PG Surgery

Surgery Vs Other Branches

Surgery vs Orthopedics

If you’re hardworking and willing to put in extra efforts and do the super-specialty then choose for Surgery as the sky is the limit in this branch.

Surgery vs Gynaecology

As a woman, if you have the options of choosing Surgery or Gynae, Opt for the latter as it will open a wide range of surgical options in Gynae as well. But, if you're only interested in Surgery, then you can readily opt for it.

Surgery vs Radiology

Radiology is the best branch according to one's perception and need. If you want a comfortable life, a good amount of income from the very beginning, then go for radiology.

But, if you're a hardworking person and want to achieve success in terms of name, fame, and wish to have the satisfaction of treating the patient then go for Surgery. In Radiology, there’s a cap in your highest income which is not so in Surgery.

Surgery vs Medicine

Both the branches are evergreen, so it all depends on your inclination. If you have the option of choosing surgery from a good institute then it's better to opt for that rather than choosing medicine from a periphery institute.

Options after MS Surgery

There are certain pathways that you can choose after MS surgery:

• You can opt for the MRCS exam after passing MS. This will be a plus one for you after your MS.
• You can also fill the form for Secondary DNB during the third year.
• You can opt for various fellowships such as- FIAGS, FMASS. The benefit would be that they would add an extra degree to your name.

Being a surgeon is a tough decision, and the challenges in this field are more compared to many other fields. You have to be in the right mind while pursuing this. We hope that the above-mentioned pointers will help to clear out your doubts in choosing surgery as a career option.

Someone has rightly said,

"It's a beautiful thing when a career and passion come together"

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