Surgeon

Surgeons are doctors who specialise in operating on particular parts of the body, in order to help patients with specific injuries, diseases or medical conditions. You will first have to train as a doctor and then specialise as a surgeon.

Work activities

Surgeons perform operations on particular parts of the body to address specific injuries, diseases or conditions. The main areas of surgery are:

Cardiothoracic surgery is a surgical specialty, which deals with the diagnosis and management of conditions of the heart, lungs and oesophagus.
Ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery is a fascinating and diverse specialty. It has more separate surgical procedures than most other surgical disciplines put together.
General: You will usually operate in one of the sub-specialty areas of vascular, endocrine, oncological and gastrointestinal work.
Neurosurgery deals with the diagnosis and treatment of illness, disease and injuries which affect the nervous system. It includes the operative, nonoperative, intensive care management and rehabilitation of patients with disorders affecting the brain and skull, spine and nervous system.
Oral and maxillofacial surgery deals with a variety of conditions affecting the mouth, jaws, face and neck. This can include helping people with the management of facial problems, including cleft lip and palate and facial trauma.
Orthopaedic and trauma: This is now one of the largest surgical specialties. Orthopaedic surgery or orthopaedics is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system (bones).
Paediatric surgery involves the surgery of unborn babies, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. As a paediatric surgeon, you might practise at a children’s hospital.
Plastic surgery is the branch of surgery specialising in repairing and reconstructing missing or damaged tissue and skin, usually due to surgery, illness, injury or an abnormality present from birth. The main aim of plastic surgery is to restore the function of tissues and skin to as close to normal as possible. Improving the appearance of body parts is an important, but secondary, objective of plastic surgery.
Urology is the branch of medicine that focuses on the medical diseases of the male and female urinary tract system, and the male reproductive organs.

Personal qualities and skills

It is as important for surgeons to be able to communicate well with patients, carers and colleagues as it is to sew up a wound or read an X-ray. There is no single set of characteristics that makes a good surgeon. Medicine includes a wide range of people, working in very varied roles. As in any strong team, it needs players with different aptitudes that complement each other. You will need:

A concern for people
An enquiring mind
An interest in people
A rational approach
An open mind
Imagination
Ability to handle pressure
Patience
Determination
Decisiveness
Humility

Pay and opportunities

Surgeons in training earn a basic salary, with a supplement if they work more than 40 hours a week and/or work outside 7am-7pm. Once they have completed their training, surgeons earn £40,000-£77,000 according to their level of responsibility and experience.

A surgeon’s working hours can be long and irregular. They may include shift, weekend and public holiday work.

Competition for posts and promotion is strong.

NHS and private hospitals employ surgeons, in hospitals throughout the UK. There are opportunities to work in other countries.

Where are vacancies advertised?

Vacancies are advertised on the NHS Jobs website, in professional journals and on job boards.

Entry routes and training

You will need to undertake a period of study at medical school (attached to a university) including work experience placements in a hospital and community setting. Entry into a medical school can be challenging. You will be called for an interview, where you will be asked about your motivation, your work at school, hobbies and personal interests. It will help if you can demonstrate relevant paid or voluntary work experience e.g., work as a hospital auxiliary, in nursing or residential care.

You would normally follow a five-year degree in medicine. After graduating, you will need to complete a further period of training and progression. After this, you get to train and specialise as a surgeon.

You can find further information and advice on the website of the British Medical Association (BMA) about how any serious medical condition you have, such as HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C, may restrict the type of work you are allowed to do.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: This career is an exception to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that you must supply information to an employer about any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings, if they ask you to. This is different from other careers, where you only have to reveal information on unspent convictions if you are asked to.

Qualifications

For entry to a degree course in medicine, the usual requirement is three A-levels at high grades. Chemistry is usually essential, with at least one other science subject or maths. Of these, many universities ask for biology. Competition for entry to medicine degrees is very strong, so you are likely to need high grades in you’re a-levels. Most university medical schools ask for at least A, A, A and some for combinations such as A*, A, A. You will also need high grades in 5 GCSEs, including English, maths and science subjects.

Medical students may apply for student loans to cover maintenance and tuition fees; however, the final years of their study may be covered by the NHS Bursary Scheme – see Gov.uk for details.

You will usually need to sit an admission test, as well as applying through UCAS. Examples are:

UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) is used in the selection procedure for most medical schools. It is not a test of knowledge but is instead designed to make sure you have what it takes to be a doctor. You should ideally take the test before you apply to the school through UCAS. Please see the UKCAT website for more information.
BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT). You will need to take this if you apply for certain universities in the UK and abroad.
Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT UK) if you’re applying for certain four-year graduate-entry medicine courses. For more information, please see the GAMSAT website.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

If you don’t have the usual academic qualifications needed for a degree in medicine, you might be able to enter the course through:

An Access to Medicine course.
A “pre-medical” or foundation” year, if you don’t have science A-levels.

You can train in a specialty (once qualified as a doctor) on a part-time basis. This can be through the NHS “Less Than Full-time Training Programme”, through which students cover 50-80% of the normal full-time weekly programme. Other options for part-time training are “job-sharing” and “permanent part-time”.

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