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What are the Different Surgeon Jobs?

Tricia Christensen
By
Updated May 17, 2024
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There are many types of surgeon jobs because there are numerous specialties and subspecialties in this field of medicine. Those who want to practice surgery finish medical school and then find a surgical residency program. After completing this, they may work as general surgeons. General surgeons perform many different kinds of surgeries on a number of the major organs. However, may surgeon jobs may go farther than general surgery and specialize in the surgical treatments of a specific area of the body, like the skeletal system, the central nervous system, or the cardiothoracic system. Alternately, a surgeon may not only specialize in certain areas of the body but also types of patients, like pediatric versus adult.

Some of the main surgeon jobs and specialties include orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, otolaryngology surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, vascular surgery, surgical oncology, anesthesiology, transplant surgery, and trauma surgery. Each of these may have different training times that vary, and each could use some small amount of explanation:

Orthopedic surgery may be one of the best surgeon jobs for those people who want to focus on the musculoskeletal system. Such surgeons might do some surgery on the spine, fix dramatically damaged bones, and help repair injuries to muscles bones or ligaments as a result of trauma or injury during sports.

Plastic surgeons focuses on two areas, cosmetic surgery and reconstructive surgery. While some may view plastic surgery as only focused on appearance, this is not true. Some plastic surgeons work very hard to reconstruct damage to the face or other parts of the body due to either congenital problems or accidents. Many surgeon jobs in the field equally share between reconstructive and cosmetic.

Otolaryngology surgery specializes in surgeries required in the ear, nose, throat, sinuses, and sometimes neck or head. Such surgeons remove tonsils, might fix cleft palates, or could remove tumors from sinuses,

Cardiothoracic surgery addresses damage to the heart and the valves surrounding it. Surgeons might add shunts, replace valves, remove overgrown parts of the heart, or fix parts that aren’t working well via surgical techniques.

Neurosurgery treats conditions that affect the central nervous system. These surgeons can perform surgery on the brain, but they might also perform spinal surgery, or procedures on damaged peripheral nerves.

Vascular Surgery might cross over with neurosurgery and cardiothoracic surgery. This field concentrates on treating disorders that might occur in veins and arteries.

Surgical Oncology treats cancer by removing cancerous cells via surgical methods.

Anesthesiology is considered one of the surgeon jobs, though it is usually the management of anesthesia during surgeries performed by other people.

Transplant surgery focuses on replacing damaged organs with ones from either live people or those who have just died.

Trauma surgeons are skilled at performing a variety of different surgeries in emergency situations.

The other specialty that needs to be mentioned is pediatric surgery, which concentrates on treatment of children. Many pediatric surgeons specialize too in a precise surgical area. For instance there are pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, pediatric orthopedic surgeons, pediatric neurosurgeons and pediatric surgical oncologists, to name just a few. Training is even longer for those who want surgeon jobs in pediatrics.

WiseGEEK is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Tricia Christensen
By Tricia Christensen , Writer
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGEEK contributor, Tricia Christensen is based in Northern California and brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her writing. Her wide-ranging interests include reading, writing, medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion, all of which she incorporates into her informative articles. Tricia is currently working on her first novel.

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Tricia Christensen

Tricia Christensen

Writer

With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGEEK contributor, Tricia...
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