surgeon

A surgeon is a physician who specializes in performing operative procedures to diagnose, treat, or prevent disease, injury, or deformity. Surgeons evaluate patients before surgery, plan operations, and provide postoperative care. They work as part of multidisciplinary teams and may perform both elective and emergency procedures in hospitals or surgical centers.

Education and certification: Surgeons complete medical school, then complete a surgical residency lasting several years, followed by optional fellowships in a subspecialty. Licensure to practice medicine is required, and many countries require board certification or credentialing in a surgical specialty. Continuing education is common to maintain certification.

Specialties include general surgery, orthopedics, neurosurgery, cardiac or cardiovascular surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, ENT, urology, pediatric surgery, and transplant surgery. Surgeons may practice in academic centers, public hospitals, or private clinics, and may perform various approaches such as open, laparoscopic, endoscopic, or robotic-assisted techniques.

Typical tasks involve patient assessment, preoperative testing, selecting the appropriate procedure, performing operations, managing anesthesia with an anesthesiologist, and overseeing recovery or rehabilitation. Risks include infection, bleeding, anesthesia complications, and unintended tissue injury. Ethical and legal considerations include informed consent and adherence to sterile technique and evidence-based practice.

Historically, the development of surgery advanced with aseptic technique, anesthesia, and imaging, enabling increasingly complex operations and subspecialization.