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Nadia Vedadi
ENG 2010
Nathan Cole
Position Final Draft

Source: Jennifer Roberts, Florida Hospital System Published June 9, 2012

Is it Worth it To Become a Surgeon?
Surgeons and physicians treat and diagnose illnesses or injuries. Physicians take medical
histories; prescribe medications; examine patients; and interpret diagnostic tests. Surgeons
operate on patients to treat; cancerous tumors, broken bones, disease, and deformities. At the
heart of all doctors do is the desire to make a human connection and improve the lives of others.
Many physicians work in hospitals, private offices, or clinics. Surgery has been around since the
Neolithic Times. The American Medical Association notes that prehistoric evidence in cave
paintings and human remains have shown the use of trepanning, which is a surgical procedure in
which a hole is drilled into the skull. In early recorded history, barbers were associated with
surgery because they would use their cutting tools to undertake minor surgical procedures.
Becoming a surgeon is a very sought-after and desirable career because they are among
the most highly educated and well-paid professionals in the United States. There is a lot of hard
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work required to accomplish the steps that to lead surgery. Within my family I am surrounded by
family members with medical based professions. By growing up with medical professionals I
have been able to pick up and understand medical terms. Medicine has become a huge interest
that has motivated me to do well in school. This is an attempt to rationalize the difficulties and
benefits in becoming a doctor and if it is really worth all the education and promises of money.
The collected information provided evidence that it will take many years of strenuous, rigid work
to become a surgeon. It is a personal decision in becoming a surgeon. Each individual interested
in the medical field in general needs to find out what their personal priorities are or will become.
Furthermore, education, family time, salary, and residency are all factors that should persuade
students in becoming surgeons.
Surgeons and physicians have demanding education and training requirements. Most
surgeons complete at least 4 years of undergraduate school, 4 years of medical school, and 3 to 8
years in internship and residency programs, depending on their specialty. Aspiring surgeons
need to receive a M.D. It will take a student a minimum of 13 years of schooling and longer for
those who want to specialize in an area of surgery. The length of school helped give insights to
the strenuous hard work and dedication that it will take to complete medical school (Decker, par.
1-2).
The general education requirements towards becoming a surgeon is looked upon as one
of the biggest disadvantages. The Archives of Surgery published a study in 2008 on the
decreasing number of general surgeons per capita which has been declining in the U.S. since
1981. The length of school is a major turn off for most people. It is also extremely competitive
to get into a good medical school and each school has its own set of prerequisites. If it was easy
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to become a doctor then everyone would be a doctor. Yes, the years of school are rigorous, but
there are more rewards to come (Decker, par.3).
The debt acquired in the many years of schooling also frightens people and may even
lead them in a different direction. The American Medical Associations key objective is to
promote the science and art of medicine provided staggering statistics on the average debt
acquired though medical school. It showed that the average educational debt of indebted
graduates of the class of 2012 was $ 166,750. It also depicted a striking 86% of medical students
carry outstanding loans compared to undergraduate students with a bachelors degree that
average out to $23,186 of debt. This has illustrated the amount of time and money it will take to
achieve this goal. Indeed, there will be a lot of money spent on the schooling it will take, but if
you are smart with the loans acquired, it is possible to decrease them. Also it doesnt take into
account the scholarships students can receive by getting good grades and by being involved in
extracurricular activities and volunteer work. After you graduate a high salary awaits that can
now pay off the students loans (Background Student Debt Statistics, par. 2).
The next step after you graduate from medical school is to get into a residency program
which experienced doctors will train students in a certain specialty and learn the skills of a
surgeon. This is the stage of medical training which includes a year of internship followed by a
fellowship that allows the residents to practice medicine underneath a physician. It is highly
competitive to get into a residency program. There are hundreds of doctors competing for the
same residency program. At this point residents are now considered official doctors that actually
make $50,000 up to $65,000 a year while they are in training. This provided an excellent
glimpse into a residency program and depicted that it would take three to six years to complete
depending on the different departments of surgery. The residency programs does pile on extra
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years after graduating, but at this point residents are making a decent amount of money and
actually get to practice medicine under the supervision of attending surgeons (Length of
Residencies, par.1).
A career in surgery creates a substantial earning potential. One of the most enticing
factors that a surgeon has is the power accumulated in occupying a high position. People almost
look upon surgeons as celebrities because they have the wealth, power, and high social class.
People idolize these surgeons because they are held in such a high standard in society that is a
result of the wealth and prestige that lower social class citizens have a harder time acquiring.
When you finally become a surgeon you are almost immediately accepted into a higher social
class just from the title of surgeon. In an article written by Dana Severson it showed the average
salary that a surgeon brings home in a month. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the
average surgeon brings home $19,200 each month or $230,540 in a year. In the article it also
described that an orthopedic surgeon, specializing in the spine, is the highest earning surgeon.
Making $60,000 a month or $714,000 in a year. The job outlook showed that medical
professions have a relatively high job stability with a 24% growth rate. Not only will surgeons
be making loads of money they will be able to sustain it even with the high expenses that come
with it (Severson, par. 4).
Making tons of money is one of the most influential benefits and what draws most
people into the profession in the first place. The money is a huge beneficial factor that comes
with the job. For many doctors it is the main reason to put yourself though all the agony of
school, debt, and residency. Unfortunately, some people just want to be doctors for the money
and not so much the love of the job. To become a surgeon there needs to be a strive developed to
learn and better yourself. The satisfaction should come from impacting someones life and
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becoming a part of their journey to get better. The money is just a luxurious reward that comes
from all the intense schooling and hard work.

The balance of work life and family life for most doctors is a struggle. In this article,
Should We Marry Doctors? Belinda Luscombe depicts some of the arguments involving
statistical findings that doctors need more life-support in their marriages off of a study that was
conducted. The research showed that almost 50% of all marriages lead to divorce and the stress
of being a doctor with a high demanding job does not help support marriage. The study that
Belinda wrote about was conducted by The American College of Surgeons displaying that 50%
of female doctors tend to also marry doctors because they have so much in common and share
the same passion. By spending so much time working together they can understand each other
better. The studys results concluded that duel physician relationships have more difficulty in
balancing the responsibilities of their careers along with parenting. The information in this
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article explained the difficulties in balancing your personal life with your professional life, but it
also depicts that it is not impossible to be successful with both.
To have a successful marriage with a high demanding job is going to take dedication and
hard work. A big part of having a successful marriage is spending the time to get to know
someone and choose the right partner. Marriage of doctors is often looked upon negatively with
as not promising results because they are demanded to work a range from 40-70 hours per week.
One of the many benefits of marrying a doctor is that in their relationship they dont have to
worry about the issue of money, which is the leading cause of divorce in America. Marriage
between physicians benefit because they can spend more time together than other couples. With
doctors having plentiful salaries they can afford to have one parent stay at home with the
children or work less hours. To have successful relationships while being a doctor you will have
to manage your time wisely and make the most of your free moments.
In conclusion, after analyzing the advantages and disadvantages in education, family
time, salary, and residency it should persuade aspiring surgeons to go to school. Yes, the journey
in becoming a surgeon will be long and difficult, but there are so many rewards to come. To
achieve the wealth, power, and prestige motivation is what needs to drive our interest,
dedication, and capability within ourselves. It is a very personal and life changing decision to
become a surgeon. Before people start their journey in school, each individual interested in the
medical field in general needs to find out what their personal priorities are or will become. To
achieve milestones in any goals such as marriage, parenting, or in certain careers it will have to
take all the goods aspects with the bad aspects. In the end looking at becoming a surgeon as a
whole it will be worth it because it makes and impact in peoples lives.

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Works Cited
Background Student Debt Statistics. JAMA. American Medical Association, N.d. Web. 3 July
aaaaa2014.
Decker, Fred. What Type of Degrees Do You Need to Be a General Surgeon? Demand Media.
aaaaaGlobal Post, N.d. Web. 3 July 2014.
Length of Residencies. Residency Roadmap. Washington University School of Medicine, N.d.
aaaaaWeb. 3 July 2014.
Luscombe, Belinda. Maybe its Not Such a Good Idea to Marry a Doctor Time. Time, 3
aaaaaDec. 2010. Web. 3 July 2014.
Severson, Dana. How Much Salary Does a Surgeon Make Every Month? Demand Media.
aaaaaGlobal Post, N.d. Web. 3 July 2014.