What do you surgeons actually do on a regular day?

hi jalen,

i keep seeing that no one has taken a stab at your question so i'll bite.

however, i'm not a surgeon. i'm a family physician. i did surgical rotations in medical school and then again in residency. i've removed gall bladders, appendixes, tonsils, uteruses, cysts, etc. and i've assisted in many more complicated surgeries. i also worked closely with surgeons while working as a hospitalist for several years.

most, but not all, surgeons are in some way tied to one or more hospitals. so they will be the surgeon "on call" for a hospital for say one day a week. during that time they can be called upon to come to evaluate a patient with a surgical condition. sometimes that will result in a surgery, sometimes not. but it definitely means they will do a whole lot of paperwork, "consults", on every one of the patients they evaluate. they'll check on test results and see each of those patients daily until the patient is discharged.

meanwhile, they also run their own office, usually very close to the hospital. they will see patients both before and after procedures. sometimes they will do office procedures such as skin excisions or wound care. some surgeons have extensive procedure rooms in their office where they can do biopsies, colonoscopies and other procedures usually done at the hospital. again, every patient contact necessarily requires completing paperwork.

i think another part of your question is what type of procedures you'd do. a lot of that depends on your subspecialty. there are many different type of surgeons, such as Orthopedists, Urologists, ENTs, Neurosurgeons, Vascular Surgeons, Cardiothoracic Surgeons, Plastic Surgeons, Pediatric Surgeons, General Surgeons, and others. each of these may further subspecialize. so, for instance, an Orthopedist may focus on the Hand & Wrist, or Knee, or Back, etc.

depending on the type of hospital they work at, sometimes the surgeon will urgently evaluate a trauma victim in the ER. sometimes they'll see patients in longterm care facilities. rarely, a surgeon will make a house call.

i wish i could give you some estimate of how much time a surgeon spends in the OR vs the ER vs the office, home, etc. what i can say is that they are some of the most mobile physicians. one of the hallmarks of a good surgeon is how available he/she is. so if i, as a primary care physician, request that a surgeon come evaluate my patient then he/she is generally obligated to fulfill my request. so they are constantly on the move.

hope that helps.

good luck!