General surgery is a field that requires:
General Surgeons Australia (GSA) administer the General Surgery Education and Training (GSET) program. GSET is a five-year training program structured into stages, Core Training and Principal Training. To apply for the GSET, you must first register with the Royal Australian College of Surgery (RACS) to ensure you meet the generic eligibility requirements. Applicants must successfully complete the RACS Generic Surgical Science Examination by the application closing date. Refer to GSA for the full selection process, including eligibility criteria, which can be found on their website.
Surgery is a very competitive program to get into, and it will likely take you a few attempts to get into the training program. You need to commit early into the surgery career path, and make sure you stay committed to the cause, because there will be challenges, but it’s well supported and rewarding.
You need to be aware that surgery is a demanding job where you will want to put in extra hours, particularly when you have operations coming up. You’re doing this not only to help prepare you get through your training, but also because you want to do a good job and improve and do the right thing by your patient. The great thing is there will be very few days when you go home without learning something new.
You’ll have to do some research, so it’s a good idea to find some research that you’re passionate about and you enjoy. It engulfs your whole life, and as with everything, there are times when that’s fine because it’s enjoyable, but other times it wears you down.
Although there are long hours and a lot of hard work, it is a privilege to do this job; it’s so rewarding when you get home at the end of the day and feel like you’ve made a difference in your patient’s lives. Surgery can be life changing, plus you get to work with some of the best surgeons in Perth.
There is now more awareness of the importance of work-life balance in recruiting and retaining doctors into surgical training, and flexible training options are becoming increasingly available. There is some job share service registrar (general surgery) jobs available. This is currently in its infancy, but there is enthusiasm and it’s likely to take off. The College is learning lessons from the UK and their successful implementation of this.
Surgical training is hard work regardless, and with a family there is obviously added challenges. The advice is to go in with your eyes open, a supportive partner and honesty with your work colleagues about inability to stay late some nights.
General surgeons can work in the public sector, private sector and in rural, regional and metropolitan areas. Surgeons can work clinically, non-clinically, in academia, research and education, administration, and innovation.
The Royal Australian College of Surgeons published a paper called ‘Surgical Workforce Projection to 2025’ which gives some statistics around supply and demand.
Perth are pioneering some Australia-first operations and procedures, for example, doing a thyroid operation without leaving a scar on the neck. So, you could be at the cutting edge by choosing surgery as your career.
N.B. Career prospects are dependent on both the supply of specialists and the projected future demand for services provided by medical specialists (including general practitioners). The complex interplay of supply and demand is currently being modelled at both a state and national level and will be included when it's available.
