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Answers from full Job Shadow Interview – Interview with a General Surgeon

What do you like about being a general surgeon?

I like the personal rewards that General Surgery gives me.  I enjoy taking a complex medical problem and figuring out what is wrong  or being able to take a sick patient to the operating room, working hard during the case, and, most of the time, having the patient recover and be better than they were before the surgery.  The majority of my patients appreciate the care they receive by me and my partners, and this in itself is very rewarding.

In my particular practice, I enjoy the variety of diseases I can care for and the cases I can perform.  I would be bonkers if I had to do the same thing every day, like a cataract surgeon (although they are at the bank and golf course hours before me!)

What do you dislike?

I dislike several things:  having to deal with insurance companies and Medicare, both of whom are constantly trying to cheapen my services and talents; getting up at night to take care of folks who are drunk or drugged and are in automobile accidents, hurting themselves or others ; taking care of people who have spent a lifetime not taking care of themselves, and having them expect miracles from my care.

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