Analysis of a Career in Surgery Student Name Professor Williams English 122 02H Date Due Outline Thesis: This analysis will explore the education, training, and career of a Surgeon. · Introduction · Definition of Surgeon · Qualities of a Surgeon · Thesis, Purpose, and Audience · Source and Scope of Research · Career Analysis · Education · Undergraduate Degree · Application Requirements · Medical School · Residency & Fellowship · Life of a Surgeon · Duties and Responsibilities · Surgery · Teaching · Research · Work/Life Balance · Employment Prospects · Career Growth · Advancement Opportunities · Pros and Cons · Conclusion · Summary of Findings · Interpretation of Findings · Recommendations Analysis of a Career in Surgery INTRODUCTION A career as a surgeon is long, incredibly difficult, competitive, costly, and one of the most rewarding pursuits you can have in your life. Something not typically mentioned to aspiring pre-medical students is the complicated nature of applying to medical school and residency. Much more is required than just a set of good grades. Volunteer work in the community, leadership and research experience, writing and interviewing skills, are all necessary for a successful application to medical school. All of those things are required yet again, when applying to surgical residency. Before digging into all those things, let’s look at the definition of a surgeon. The United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statisticsdescribes the surgical profession in the Occupational Outlook Handbook as the following: “Using a variety of instruments, a surgeon corrects physical deformities, repairs bone and tissue after injuries, or performs preventive or elective surgeries on patients.” This is a strict definition however; a more useful outlook would be to focus on what traits lend themselves to becoming a successful surgeon. There is a useful list created by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), titled, “So You Want to Be A Surgeon: An Online Guide to Selecting and Matching with the Best Surgery Residency,” which aims at current medical students. The guide says that a surgeon should work well as a member of a team; enjoy quick patient outcomes; welcome increasing responsibility; excel at solving problems with quick thinking; be inspired by challenges; and love to learn new skills (American College of Surgeons). The ACS recommends looking into a surgical career if you believe some or all of those traits apply to you. However, there is no such thing as a “standard surgical resident” and the ACS points out that “surgeons are trained, not born.…Becoming a good surgeon is a lifelong process.” For students interested in pursuing a surgical career, this analysis will explore the education, training, and career of a Surgeon. Information for objective analysis will be taken from multiple sources including article databases, government sources, a personal interview with an orthopedic surgeon, the American College of Sur.

1. Analysis of a Career in Surgery
Student Name
Professor Williams
English 122 02H
Date Due
Outline
Thesis: This analysis will explore the education, training, and
career of a Surgeon.
· Introduction
· Definition of Surgeon
· Qualities of a Surgeon
· Thesis, Purpose, and Audience
· Source and Scope of Research
· Career Analysis
· Education
· Undergraduate Degree
· Application Requirements
· Medical School
· Residency & Fellowship

2. · Life of a Surgeon
· Duties and Responsibilities
· Surgery
· Teaching
· Research
· Work/Life Balance
· Employment Prospects
· Career Growth
· Advancement Opportunities
· Pros and Cons
· Conclusion
· Summary of Findings
· Interpretation of Findings
· Recommendations
Analysis of a Career in Surgery
INTRODUCTION
A career as a surgeon is long, incredibly difficult, competitive,
costly, and one of the most rewarding pursuits you can have in
your life. Something not typically mentioned to aspiring pre-
medical students is the complicated nature of applying to
medical school and residency. Much more is required than just a
set of good grades. Volunteer work in the community,
leadership and research experience, writing and interviewing
skills, are all necessary for a successful application to medical
school. All of those things are required yet again, when
applying to surgical residency.
Before digging into all those things, let’s look at the definition
of a surgeon. The United States Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statisticsdescribes the surgical profession in the
Occupational Outlook Handbook as the following: “Using a
variety of instruments, a surgeon corrects physical deformities,
repairs bone and tissue after injuries, or performs preventive or
elective surgeries on patients.” This is a strict definition

3. however; a more useful outlook would be to focus on what traits
lend themselves to becoming a successful surgeon.
There is a useful list created by the American College of
Surgeons (ACS), titled, “So You Want to Be A Surgeon: An
Online Guide to Selecting and Matching with the Best Surgery
Residency,” which aims at current medical students. The guide
says that a surgeon should work well as a member of a team;
enjoy quick patient outcomes; welcome increasing
responsibility; excel at solving problems with quick thinking;
be inspired by challenges; and love to learn new skills
(American College of Surgeons). The ACS recommends looking
into a surgical career if you believe some or all of those traits
apply to you. However, there is no such thing as a “standard
surgical resident” and the ACS points out that “surgeons are
trained, not born.…Becoming a good surgeon is a lifelong
process.”
For students interested in pursuing a surgical career, this
analysis will explore the education, training, and career of a
Surgeon. Information for objective analysis will be taken from
multiple sources including article databases, government
sources, a personal interview with an orthopedic surgeon, the
American College of Surgeons, and other credible websites.
While this analysis will have a broad base of information, its
scope will include an in-depth look at the education, life of a
surgeon and the career’s medical prospects as to the medical
school application requirements, residency, testing
requirements, and a surgeons “typical” career.
CAREER ANALYSIS
EDUCATION
As a pre-med student, knowing the undergraduate requirements
is vital as you don’t want to take classes you don’t need. Many
students, uneducated about the process, believe that medical
school requires a biology degree. However, you can get into
medical school with any bachelor’s degree, provided you also
meet some basic requirements.
Undergraduate Degree

4. All medical schools have the basic requirement of one year each
of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics.
Some medical schools do have other minor requirements, which
can include different humanities or sociology classes. It’s
important to decide which schools you want to apply to early in
your pre-med career so you can fulfill their admission
requirements. All schools list these requirements on the
admissions portion of their website.
Application Requirements
More than good grades are required for admission to medical
school. Medical schools around the country receive thousands
of applicants each year, and the school’s reputation is on the
line for every student. Therefore, schools are looking for well-
rounded students that are involved in their community,
understand and have been involved in research, and have been
introduced to the medical field, either through work experience,
volunteering, or shadowing. Technically, none of this is
required, but you will not be accepted without having had these
other experiences. This is a good thing, as it encourages life-
experienced students, which ultimately produces better doctors.
Once you actually submit your application, even if a
school likes you, it’s not over yet. The school will then send
you a “secondary” application, which you have to pay to submit
back to them and typically includes some variety of essay
questions. If you make it past this secondary application, you
are then invited to interview! You will be required to drive or
fly to the college to be interviewed by the selection committee.
The actual interview process varies greatly between colleges,
but the typical rule of thumb is that the interview begins when
you walk onto campus, whether you know it or not. So always
be on your best behavior! After the interview, you will
eventually hear whether they have offered you acceptance or
not. It is important to reply as soon as possible, lest they change
their minds.
Medical School

5. Medical schools are as different as they are the similar. All
schools are four years and, of those, you’ll have two years of
course work, anatomy & physiology, pathology, histology, the
list is extensive. Then you’ll have one year of rotations where
you’ll experience all the different specialties of medicine. This
is when you’ll be introduced to surgery for the first time, unless
you had the opportunity to shadow a surgeon previously. During
the fourth year, or “intern” year, you will choose a specialty or
two that you will learn more about. This is the basic structure of
medical school education, but each is vastly different in their
approach.
Residency & Fellowship
It is now your intern year, and you have to start deciding what
specialty you want pursue if you haven’t already. You’ll need to
keep up with all the extracurricular activities mentioned in the
application requirements section, as well as keep your marks
high in medical school. Networking is also incredibly
important. In fact, a paper examining the “hidden curriculum of
surgical careers” by Elspeth Hill et al, a Resident Surgeon at
Washington University, found that “students described
relationships as fundamental to understanding how to engage in
the surgical world; building a network was critical to
encountering and uncovering the surgical hidden curriculum”
(887). You’ll have to go through the application and interview
process again, but it is a much faster process this time. Aspiring
surgical residents will want to pay attention to not only the
residency they’re applying to, but also where the residency is
placed. As a general surgical residency is five years in length,
meaning you need to tolerate where you’re living.
Fellowship is advanced training in a subspecialty, lasting
from one to three years depending on the subspecialty.
Fellowships are far more competitive as most only accept one or
two fellows per year. Therefore, you need to be motivated and
on top of your game if this is the path you want to take. The
good news is after fellowship, you’re done! You can now be
hired as a full-fledged attending surgeon. It only took 15 years

6. and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Congratulations.
LIFE OF A SURGEON
The following will apply only to attending surgeons whom have
finished residency and, possibly, a fellowship. Their typical day
will vary greatly based on the specialty or subspecialty. For the
sake of brevity, we will generalize. Most surgeons will
regularly teach as well as perform or be involved in research in
some way, besides their normal surgical duties, so we will
analyze those three main tasks.
Duties and Responsibilities
The amount of the following responsibilities will be different
depending on the surgeon’s focus. An academic surgeon, for
instance, will do more research and experimental design,
whereas a surgeon in a large urban hospital will likely do more
teaching of interns, residents and fellow; and a surgeon in a
more rural or underserved area will be focused almost entirely
on surgery and patient care.
Surgery: A surgeon in a rural or underserved area will perform a
lot of surgery and patient care. Their days will be filled
reviewing cases, performing surgery, and managing patients
post-surgery. They will likely have to be on-call a couple times
per month or more depending on their specialty, but otherwise
will be fairly in control of their schedule as an attending
surgeon.
Teaching: A surgeon in a teaching hospital will do a lot of, just
that, teaching. They will still perform plenty of surgery, but
will likely always have interns, residents, or fellows with them.
In addition, they will give presentations regularly at hospital
conferences, and have grand-rounds, which is when the
residents or fellows will present their case load to the attending,
you, for consideration and guidance.
Research: Surgeons involved in research will perform mostly
experimental surgeries. They will spend a lot of time,
evaluating and designing experiments, as well as working

7. closely with test subjects. After an experiment is concluded,
they will also spend a long time evaluating and putting together
their findings to, hopefully, have a conclusion worth publishing.
Work/Life Balance
As a medical student, resident, and fellow, studying surgery
will dominate your life. There is so much information to absorb
and so many skills to master you simply do not have time to do
much else. It will be important during this time to find little
things you can do to ground yourself and stay sane, but mostly,
your life belongs to the hospital.
Attending surgeons are a different story. They will have
greater control over, and in some cases, the ability to dictate
their schedule. They will only occasionally have to be on-call,
or work weekends, after all, that’s what residents are for!
In a personal interview with Dr. Ken Danylchuk, an
Orthopedic Surgeon, explains that since he owns his own
practice with two other surgeons his schedule is very flexible.
He is able to take vacation time when he wants, and provide
plenty of time for research. He also doesn’t work with
resident’s or interns unless he goes to Denver, which he says,
“is as few times a year as I can manage” (Personal interview).
EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS
Surgeons are always in demand. Especially in rural and
underserved areas. The need for general surgeons will continue
to increase as the average population gets older and suffers
more complications from comorbidities, due to the increasing
prevalence of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.. Danylchuk
notes that he plans to bring in two more orthopedic surgeons
into his practice over the next five years, but finding board
certified orthopedic surgeons that want to move to a smaller
town is not an easy task (Personal interview).
USA
2014 Employment

8. 46,000
2024 Employment
55,100
Percent Change
20%
Annual Projected Openings
2,150
Career Growth
(Fig 1:“Surgeons”)
Career One Stop estimates the that 55,100 surgeons will be
needed by 2024, with 2,150 of those openings going unfilled by
current estimates of surgeon training. That is a lot of positions
going unfilled, considering the amount of time it takes to train a
general surgeon. Other careers might have a higher percentage
of positions unfilled, but the training time is likely far less.
Advancement Opportunities
A surgeon doesn’t have to necessarily wield a scalpel their
entire career. There are many ways to move up the career
ladder. These include becoming a chief of surgery or other
administrative official, transferring to teach at a medical school,
or moving into research. A lot of surgeons however continue to
cut, because they enjoy it. In fact, a cardiothoracic surgeon was
recently in the news for continuing to assist with surgeries until
he retired at the age of 95 (Carstensen).
Pros and Cons
Everyone knows that physicians and surgeons make a lot of
money per year; this is perhaps the greatest objective benefit.
What is harder to measure is the satisfaction obtained from
being able to cure someone’s disease in a matter of hours, by
completely cutting out a tumor, removing a diseased piece of
organ, or pulling someone back from the dead when they’ve
been shot several times. Surgeons often refer to the “calling” of

9. surgery. A survey of more than 800 surgeons conducted by Julia
Seelandt et al. showed that to “more than 40% of all surveyed
surgeons, surgery as a calling was the most often cited
promoting factor for surgery as a career choice” (3).
However, there are definitely negatives. From that large
salary per year, one must deduct insurance and malpractice fees,
a large amount of taxes, student loans, etc. Career One Stop
reflects that those bills add up quickly even when making
$200,000 or more per year (“Surgeons”). Medicine, and in turn,
surgery, changes constantly. One must continue to learn and
master new skills and information to stay competitive and keep
your patients safe. Surgery also requires that you develop
certain aloof characteristics. Physician Richard Selzer states in
an essay that, “In the operating room the patient must be
anaesthetized in order that he or she feel no pain. The surgeon
too must be anaesthetized, insulated against the emotional heat
of the event so that he can perform this act of laying open the
body of a fellow human being” (Gaither's Dictionary of
Scientific Quotations). Overall, the pros and cons of any
profession depend on your attitude, perspective and personal
circumstances.
CONCLUSION
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Becoming a surgeon is a rigorous process that demands almost
all of your time, talents, and treasure. One must not only be
intelligent, but also possess and develop many other qualities to
be successful. However, if you truly have a passion for surgery,
the path will be rewarding and instill a great sense of
accomplishment.
INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS
If a student is to be successful in a career of surgery, they will
have to master the process of navigating the medical education

10. system. Networking, communicating through effective writing,
and mastering interviews will be vital. After medical school is
where the real work begins as a surgeon. Sacrifices must be
made to develop the skills needed to have the privilege of
operating on patients.
RECOMMENDATIONS
A student considering a career in surgery should consider the
following:
· Get an undergraduate degree that you have a passion for, not
necessarily a hard science.
· Shadow with doctors early and often. You can never have
enough exposure
· Learn to love studying and learning! You will be doing it the
rest of your life.
Works Cited
American College of Surgeons. “So You Want to Be A Surgeon:
An Online Guide to Selecting and Matching with the Best
Surgery Residency.” American College of Surgeons,
www.facs.org/education/resources/residency-search/traits.
Accessed 9 Sept 2017.
Carstensen, Melissa. “100-year-old surgeon, WWII vet who
retired at age 95 shares secrets to longevity” Fox News Health,
Fox News, 16 Dec. 2014.
www.foxnews.com/health/2014/12/16/100-year-old-surgeon-
wwii-vet-who-retired-at-age-5-shares-secrets-to-longevity.html.
Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.
Danylchuk, Ken. Personal interview. 20 Sept 2015.
Hill, Elspeth, et al. "You've Got to Know the Rules to Play the
Game: How Medical Students Negotiate the Hidden Curriculum
of Surgical Careers." Medical Education, vol. 48, no. 9, Sept.
2014, pp. 884-894. CINAHL Complete,
doi:10.1111/medu.12488.

11. Seelandt, Julia C., et al. "The Surgeon’s Perspective: Promoting
and Discouraging Factors for Choosing a Career in Surgery as
Perceived by Surgeons." Plos ONE, vol. 9, no. 7, July 2014, pp.
3. EBSCOhost, Academic Search Premier
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102756.
“Surgeon." Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations, edited
by Carl C. Gaither, and Alma E. Cavazos-Gaither, Springer
Science+Business Media, 2nd edition, 2012. Credo Reference,
search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sprgaithers/surgeon/0?i
nstitutionId=5637. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
“Surgeons.” Career One Stop, State of Minnesota, 2017.
www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/careers/occupations/Occupation-
profile.aspx?keyword=Surgeons&onetcode=29106700&ES=Y&
EST=surgeon. Accessed 7 Sept. 2017. Graph.
United States, Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Physicians and Surgeons.” Occupational Outlook Handbook,
17 Dec 2015, www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physicians-and-
surgeons.htm, 7 Sept 2017.
· Work Cited means that the work listed is cited in the text.
There are no exceptions. Be sure that every Work Citation has a
corresponding in-text citation correctly represented.
· REMEMBER that intext citations draw exactly from the Work
Cited. Therefore, articles or short works inside a web site or
book are in “quotes,” containers/sources in which the article or
short work reside are always italicized. Articles and Sources
MUST BE correctly represented in the Work Cited and matched
in format in the intext citation.
Investigate a job/profession/career area you are considering,
such as nursing, accounting, criminal justice, computers,
business management, engineering, etc. Specify your job title:
parole officer, pediatric nurse, physical therapist, social worker,
etc. Length

12. Your final career paper will be a minimum of eight (8) typed
(double-spaced) pages, not including the title page, formal
outline, and "Works Cited" page.Sources
To expand on your knowledge of research and documentation,
the English and Communication Department curriculum requires
that you use a variety of reliable sources to gather both primary
and secondary information. By using the prescribed sources,
you will gain experience with sources most students would
normally avoid.
· Use a minimum of eight (8) current sources. Vary your sources
(government publications, EBSCOhost, Internet, etc.). As part
of your sources, you must include the following secondary
sources:
1. Occupational Outlook Handbook
2. America's Career Infonet
3. Chronicle Guidance Publication (Occupational Brief) Your
instructor will provide the password for you to download theses
briefs at no cost.
4. At least one article from a website
· As part of the eight required sources, conduct at least one
personal interview with a person who is working in your career
area, and incorporate this information throughout your
paper. Don't use family members or friends for the required
interview, and don't substitute a telephone or email interview
for the required personal interview. I want you to leave your
comfort zone and meet new people as well as make connections.
Although you may certainly use these resources as additional
sources to go beyond the minimum requirements and enrich
your paper, they cannot substitute the personal interview
requirement.
· Include at least one table, chart, or graph
Copies of all sources must be submitted with the final
paper.Audience
Your audience for this essay will be students interested in
pursuing a career in your chosen field. This essay is not about
your goals and aspirations; it's about your career. Assume the

13. persona of an authority in the field; after all, you will be quite
knowledgeable after having done your research. Your job is to
educate your audience about your chosen field so that your
reader can make an informed career decision.Format
Since the career paper covers more areas and has a broader
focus than those papers you wrote for English Composition I,
you will need to use headings and subheadings to guide your
reader through the text. Read carefully the information provided
for levels of headings. In addition, I will help you use headings
correctly.
Documentation must follow the new MLA style of
documentation as well as manuscript form:
1. One inch margins on all sides
2. 12 pts. font sizeEvaluation
3. Times New Roman font style
4. Effective use of headings and subheadings
5. Formal outline, the text, and a "Works Cited" page
6. Title page
If your paper is missing any of these requirements, it will not
receive a passing grade.Evaluation
The final research paper will be evaluated on the following
criteria:
1. Effectiveness of your introduction and conclusion
2. clarity of purpose;
3. Organization, Development, and coherence
4. Integration and use of source information
5. Variety of sources
6. Documentation and Works Cited list
7. MLA format
8. Grammar, usage, and mechanics
See the career analysis final draft rubric in "What You Will
Learn" and review how each criterion is defined. Your research
paper will receive a grade that will include points earned for
assignments, activities, or tests. The final grade for the career
analysis paper is worth 30% of your final grade for this
course.Due Dates

14. Your instructor will post your schedule of assignments in D2L
content. Follow the schedule diligently.You will receive credit
for each assignment in the process of writing the paper. You
will receive credit only if you complete each step on the date it
is due and you have followed the instructions and guidelines for
preparing the assignment. If your assignment is late, don't fail
to submit it anyway. The feedbacks you receive on these
assignments are crucial to successful completion of your final
paper. You may not receive full credit, but you may receive
some points, plus, most importantly, feedback.
Name
Professor Wenger
English 122
09/16/2018
Outline
Thesis: This analysis will explore the education, training, and
career of a real-estate broker.
I.Introduction
A. Definition of a real-estate broker
B. Components of a real-estate broker
C. Thesis, purpose, and audience
D. Source and scope of research
II.Career Analysis
A. Education

15. 1. Bachelor’s Degree
2. Occupational license
3. Apprenticeships
B. Knowledge
1. Sales and Marketing
a. Strategies and Techniques
b. Negotiating
c. Persuasiveness
2. Administration and Management
C. Employment opportunities
1. Advancement opportunities
2. Salaries
III. Conclusion
A. Summary
B. Recommendations