Is Becoming A Surgeon Worth the Risk?
When you are thinking about the kind of career path that you will follow, you’ll have a tough decision to make. Many young people have no idea what they want to do with their lives whilst others have a clear path defined and a five-year plan. In the medical field, there are many great roles including GPs, nurses and surgeons.
If you are considering becoming a surgeon but aren’t sure about the risks involved, don’t worry as we are going to look at this closely here in this article.
What Does A Surgeon Do?
The role of a surgeon encompasses many different tasks and it requires a lot of training to become one. You cannot simply go to medical school and graduate as a surgeon. You need to do residencies and additional training in the specific type of surgery, and it will take a long time to complete.
On an average day, a surgeon might treat injuries or diseases and can repair bone and tissue. Surgeons will also perform elective surgeries on patients, and they will often save lives if a patient is in a severe condition. Usually, surgeons will specialise in a certain type of surgery.
What Are the Risks?
As you can imagine, there are many risks that come with becoming a surgeon. Firstly, you’ll have the lives of your patients in your hands on a regular basis. Some surgeries can be simple and straightforward whilst others can be extremely tricky and can take hours. If a mistake is made, a patient can die, and this is a very serious risk. Of course, surgeons are trained to avoid these mistakes, but it isn’t always possible to prevent something like this happening.
A further risk of becoming a surgeon is that it takes many years to complete your training. So, what happens if you decide that surgery isn’t for you during your training or your residency? If you are thinking about becoming a surgeon then you must make sure that you are ready to commit. Otherwise, you risk wasting many years of your life training for a role that you will never work in.
Is It Worth It?
If you ask a surgeon if all of the training and the risks make them wish they had another job, they will probably say no. Many surgeons want to help others and so are willing to put up with the risks in order to save the lives of their patients. Becoming a surgeon is a very rewarding role, especially when a patient has been on the table for many hours and comes out the other side.
In relation to the risk of making a medical mistake, surgeons are often protected by medical indemnity insurance. While this insurance cannot prevent or rectify a mistake, it can protect surgeons from potential claims should something goes wrong.
Final Thoughts
If you are thinking about becoming a surgeon, you need to assess whether you think it is worth the risk or not. If you are hoping to help others and have the skills required to do this kind of job, you should look into starting your training and education. Remember that surgeons are protected if there are mistakes and the role is actually very rewarding when things go right. Finding the right career path isn’t easy but this could be a good role for you.
