View source for Surgeon

{{Short description|Physician with surgical specialty}}
{{other uses}}
{{multiple image |direction=vertical|align=right|footer=Surgeons performing operations
|image1=Cardiac surgery operating room.jpg
|image2=Surgeons at Work.jpg}}
In  [[medicine]], a '''surgeon''' is a [[medical doctor]] who performs [[surgery]].  Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed [[physician]] and received the same medical training as physicians before specializing in surgery.
In some countries and jurisdictions, the title of 'surgeon' is restricted to maintain the integrity of the craft group in the medical profession. A specialist regarded as a legally recognized surgeon includes [[podiatry]], [[dentistry]], and [[veterinary medicine]]. It is estimated that surgeons perform over 300 million surgical procedures globally each year.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60806-6|title=Estimate of the global volume of surgery in 2012: An assessment supporting improved health outcomes |year=2015 |last1=Weiser |first1=Thomas G. |last2=Haynes |first2=Alex B. |last3=Molina |first3=George |last4=Lipsitz |first4=Stuart R. |last5=Esquivel |first5=Micaela M. |last6=Uribe-Leitz |first6=Tarsicio |last7=Fu |first7=Rui |last8=Azad |first8=Tej |last9=Chao |first9=Tiffany E. |last10=Berry |first10=William R. |last11=Gawande |first11=Atul A. |journal=The Lancet |volume=385 |pages=S11 |pmid=26313057 |s2cid=24856780 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/aorn.13469 |title=A Systematic Review of Interventions Used to Enhance Implementation of and Compliance with the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist in Adult Surgery |year=2021 |last1=Liu |first1=Liang Qin |last2=Mehigan |first2=Sinead |journal=AORN Journal |volume=114 |issue=2 |pages=159–170 |pmid=34314014 |s2cid=236452617 |url=https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/31885/1/Final%20submitted%20and%20accepted%20version%20of%20text%2016%20Dec2020.pdf |access-date=2023-02-28 |archive-date=2023-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228043910/https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/31885/1/Final%20submitted%20and%20accepted%20version%20of%20text%2016%20Dec2020.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
==History==
{{main|History of surgery}}
[[File:Albucasis.gif|thumb|[[Al-Zahrawi]], the [[Islamic Golden Age]] physician widely considered one of the '"[[Father of surgery|Fathers of Modern Surgery]]"]]
The first person to document a surgery was the 6th century BC Indian physician-surgeon, [[Sushruta]]. He specialized in cosmetic plastic surgery and even documented an open [[rhinoplasty]] procedure.<ref name="auto">Papel, Ira D. and Frodel, John (2008) ''Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery''. Thieme Medical Pub. {{ISBN|1588905152}}</ref> His [[Masterpiece|magnum opus]] ''Suśruta-saṃhitā'' is one of the most important surviving ancient treatises on medicine and is considered a foundational text of both [[Ayurveda]] and surgery. The treatise addresses all aspects of general medicine, but the translator G. D. Singhal dubbed Sushruta "the father of surgical intervention" on account of the extraordinarily accurate and detailed accounts of surgery to be found in the work.<ref>{{cite book|title=Diagnostic considerations in ancient Indian surgery: (based on Nidāna-Sthāna of Suśruta Saṁhitā)|last=Singhal|first=G. D.|publisher=Singhal Publications|year=1972|location=Varanasi}}</ref>
After the eventual decline of the Sushruta School of Medicine in India, surgery was largely ignored until the [[Islamic Golden Age]] surgeon [[Al-Zahrawi]] (936–1013) re-established surgery as an effective medical practice. He is considered the greatest medieval surgeon to have appeared from the Islamic World, and has also been described as the [[father of surgery]].<ref name=Ahmad>{{citation|last=Ahmad|first=Z. ([[St Thomas' Hospital]])|title=Al-Zahrawi – The Father of Surgery|journal=ANZ Journal of Surgery|year=2007|volume=77|issue=Suppl. 1|doi=10.1111/j.1445-2197.2007.04130_8.x|pages=A83|s2cid=57308997}}</ref> His greatest contribution to medicine is the ''[[Al-Tasrif|Kitab al-Tasrif]]'', a thirty-volume encyclopedia of medical practices.<ref name="al-ZahrāwīStudies1973">{{cite book|last1=al-Zahrāwī|first1=Abū al-Qāsim Khalaf ibn ʻAbbās|last2=Studies|first2=Gustave E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern|title=Albucasis on surgery and instruments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjVra87nRScC&pg=PR8|access-date=16 May 2011|year=1973|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-01532-6}}</ref> He was the first physician to describe an [[ectopic pregnancy]], and the first physician to identify the hereditary nature of [[haemophilia]].<ref name="MedievalLife" />
His pioneering contributions to the field of surgical procedures and instruments had an enormous impact on surgery but it was not until the 18th century that surgery emerged as a distinct medical discipline in England.<ref name="MedievalLife">{{cite book|title=Handbook to Life in the Medieval World|first1=Madeleine Pelner|last1=Cosman|first2=Linda Gale|last2=Jones|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]]|year=2008|series=Handbook to Life Series|volume=2|isbn=978-0-8160-4887-8|pages=528–530}}</ref>
In Europe, surgery was mostly associated with barber-surgeons who also used their hair-cutting tools to undertake surgical procedures, often at the battlefield and also for their employers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/surgeons-and-surgical-spaces#the-barbers-shop|title=Surgeons and Surgical Spaces #The barbers shop|website=sciencemuseum.org.uk|access-date=2020-05-05|archive-date=2020-08-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807222810/https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/surgeons-and-surgical-spaces#the-barbers-shop|url-status=live}}</ref> With advances in medicine and physiology, the professions of barbers and surgeons diverged; by the 19th century barber-surgeons had virtually disappeared, and surgeons were almost invariably qualified doctors who had specialized in surgery. [[Military surgeon|Surgeon]] continued, however, to be used as the title for military medical officers until the end of the 19th century, and the title of [[Surgeon General]] continues to exist for both senior military medical officers and senior government public health officers.
==Titles in the Commonwealth==
In 1950, the [[Royal College of Surgeons of England]] (RCS) in [[London]] began to offer surgeons a formal status via RCS membership. The title ''Mister'' became a badge of honour, and today, in many [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth countries]], a qualified doctor who, after at least four years' training, obtains a surgical qualification (formerly [[Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons|Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons]], but now also [[Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons|Member of the Royal College of Surgeons]] or a number of other diplomas) is given the honour of being allowed to revert to calling themselves [[Mr]], [[Miss]], [[Mrs]] or [[Ms.|Ms]] in the course of their professional practice, but this time the meaning is different. It is sometimes assumed that the change of title implies [[Consultant (medicine)|consultant]] status (and some mistakenly think non-surgical consultants are Mr too), but the length of postgraduate medical training outside North America is such that a qualified surgeon may be years away from obtaining such a post: many doctors previously obtained these qualifications in the senior house officer grade, and remained in that grade when they began sub-specialty training. The distinction of Mr (etc.) is also used by surgeons in the [[Republic of Ireland]], some states of [[Australia]], [[Barbados]], [[New Zealand]], [[South Africa]], [[Zimbabwe]], and some other Commonwealth countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/patients/the-surgical-team/qualifications-of-a-surgeon#three|title=Patients: The Surgical Team: Qualifications of a surgeon|publisher=[[Royal College of Surgeons of England]]|access-date=13 June 2015|archive-date=2 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702191646/https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/patients/the-surgical-team/qualifications-of-a-surgeon#three|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2021, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons announced that it was advocating for this practice to be phased out and began encouraging the use of the gender neutral title Dr or appropriate academic titles such as Professor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.surgeons.org/News/media-releases/RACS-phases-out-gendered-titles-for-surgeons|title=RACS phases out gendered titles for surgeons|publisher=[[Royal Australasian College of Surgeons]]|access-date=31 August 2021|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831074806/https://www.surgeons.org/News/media-releases/RACS-phases-out-gendered-titles-for-surgeons|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Military titles==
In many English-speaking countries the [[Military surgeon|''military'' title of surgeon]] is applied to any medical practitioner, due to the historical evolution of the term. The [[Medical Corps (United States Army)|US Army Medical Corps]] retains various surgeon [[United States military occupation code]]s in the ranks of [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] pay grades, for military personnel dedicated to performing surgery on wounded soldiers.
==Specialties==
[[File:Thomas Eakins, American - Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross (The Gross Clinic) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[The Gross Clinic]],'' 1875, [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]] and the [[Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts]]]]
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|<!-- Please respect alphabetical order -->
* [[cardiothoracic surgery]]
* [[Colorectal surgery]]
* [[Craniofacial surgery]]
* [[Dental surgery]]
* [[Endocrine surgery]]
* [[General surgery]]
* [[Neurological surgery]]
* [[Obstetrics and gynaecology]]
* [[Ophthalmology]]
* [[Oral and maxillofacial surgery]]
* [[Orthopedic surgery]]
* [[Otorhinolaryngology]]
* [[Pediatric surgery]]
* [[Plastic surgery]]
* [[Podiatry#Podiatric surgery|Podiatric surgery]]
* [[Surgical oncology]]
* [[Thoracic surgery]] (in the United States considered part of [[cardiothoracic surgery]])
* [[Organ transplant|Transplant surgery]]
* [[Trauma surgery]]
* [[Upper gastrointestinal surgery]]
* [[Urology]]
* [[Vascular surgery]]
}}
Some physicians who are [[general practitioner]]s or specialists in [[family medicine]] or [[emergency medicine]] may perform limited ranges of minor, common, or emergency surgery. [[Anesthesia]] often accompanies surgery, and [[anesthesiologist]]s and [[nurse anesthetists]] may oversee this aspect of surgery. [[Surgeon's assistant]], [[Surgical nursing|surgical nurses]], [[surgical technologist]]s are trained professionals who support surgeons.
In the United States, the Department of Labor description of a surgeon is "a physician who treats diseases, injuries, and deformities by invasive, minimally-invasive, or non-invasive surgical methods, such as using instruments, appliances, or by manual manipulation".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291067.htm|title=Occupational Employment Statistic: Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2015: 29–1067 Surgeons|website=bls.gov|access-date=2016-04-26|archive-date=2016-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506170804/http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291067.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
Around the world, the array of 'surgical' pathology that a surgeon manages does not always require surgical methods. For example, surgeons treat diverticulitis conservatively using antibiotics and bowel rest. In some cases of small bowel obstruction, particularly where a patient has had previous abdominal surgery, the surgeon treats the patient with fluid resuscitation, nasogastric decompression of the stomach, which gives rise to resolution of the intestinal obstruction in cases where adhesions are the aetiology of the obstruction. The same is true for other craft groups in surgery.
==Pioneer surgeons==
[[File:N.I.Pirogov 1870 photo by P.S.Zhukov.jpg|thumb|Russian surgeon Nikolay Pirogov – a pioneer of [[field surgery]]]]
[[File:Victor Horsley.jpg|thumb|Victor Horsley pioneered [[neurosurgery]]]]
{{Further|List of surgeons}}
*[[Christiaan Barnard]] (cardiac surgery, first [[heart transplantation]])
*[[Alfred Blalock]] (first modern day successful [[open heart surgery]] in 1944)
*[[Nina Starr Braunwald]] (First female [[Cardiothoracic surgery|cardiac surgeon]])
*[[Dorothy Lavinia Brown|Dorothy-Laviania Brown]] (First female African-American surgeon)
*[[Victor Chang]] Australian pioneer of heart transplantation
* [[Harvey Cushing]] (pioneer, and often considered the father of, modern [[neurosurgery]])
*[[Eleanor Davies-Colley]] (surgeon and founder of the South London Hospital for Women and Children)
*[[Michael DeBakey]] (educator and innovator in the field of [[cardiac surgery]])
* [[René Favaloro]] (first surgeon to perform [[Coronary artery bypass surgery|bypass surgery]])
*[[Svyatoslav Fyodorov]] (creator of [[radial keratotomy]])
*[[Harold Gillies]] (pioneer of plastic surgery)
*[[Jessie Gray|Jesse Gray]] (First female chief of surgery at Hopkinz Hospital)
*[[William Stewart Halsted]] (initiated surgical residency training in U.S., pioneer in many fields)
*[[Michael R. Harrison]] (pioneer of [[fetal surgery]])
*Sir [[Victor Horsley]] ([[neurosurgery]])
*[[John Hunter (surgeon)|John Hunter]] (Scottish, viewed as the father of modern surgery, performed hundreds of dissections, served as the model for [[Dr. Jekyll]].)
*[[Gavriil Ilizarov]], inventor of the [[Ilizarov apparatus]] for lengthening limb bones and for the method of surgery named after him, the [[Distraction osteogenesis#History|Ilizarov surgery]]
*[[Charles Kelman]] (Invented [[phacoemulsification]], the technique of modern cataract surgery)
*[[Lars Leksell]] (neurosurgery, inventor of [[radiosurgery]])
*[[C. Walton Lillehei]] (labeled "Father of modern day [[open heart surgery]]")
*[[Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister|Joseph Lister]] (discoverer of surgical [[sepsis]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Joseph Lister's antisepsis system {{!}} Science Museum |url=https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/listers-antisepsis-system |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.sciencemuseum.org.uk |language=en}}</ref> [[Listerine]] named in his honour<ref name=":0" />)
*[[B. K. Misra]] –  first neurosurgeon in the world to perform [[image-guided surgery]] for [[Intracranial aneurysm|aneurysm]]s, first in South Asia to perform [[stereotactic radiosurgery]], first in India to perform [[awake craniotomy]] and [[laparoscopic]] spine surgery.<ref>[http://www.neurosocietyindia.org/site/Past-president/Basant%20Kumar%20Misra,%20President%20NSI%202008.pdf Basant Kumar Misra, President NSI 2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227055715/http://www.neurosocietyindia.org/site/Past-president/Basant%20Kumar%20Misra,%20President%20NSI%202008.pdf |date=2021-02-27 }}. Neurological Society of India</ref>
*[[Ioannis Pallikaris]] (Greek surgeon. Performed the first LASIK procedure on a [[human eye]].<ref>{{cite web|date=1 June 2009|author=Stuart, Annie|publisher=American Academy of Ophthalmology|title=A Look at LASIK Past, Present and Future|url=http://www.aao.org/eyenet/article/look-at-lasik-past-present-future|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-date=10 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710190727/http://www.aao.org/eyenet/article/look-at-lasik-past-present-future|url-status=live}}</ref> Developed [[Epi-LASIK]].<ref>[http://www.eri.harvard.edu/faculty/peli/Opthalm_Mngt_0803.htm "When Cornea Transplants Fail. What Next?"] Harvard University. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909022438/http://www.eri.harvard.edu/faculty/peli/Opthalm_Mngt_0803.htm|date=2006-09-09}}</ref>)
*[[Fidel Pagés]] (pioneer of [[epidural anesthesia]])
* [[Wilder Penfield]] (neurosurgery)
* [[Gholam A. Peyman]] (inventor of [[LASIK]],<ref>Peyman, Gholam A. (1989) {{US Patent |4840175}} "Method for modifying corneal curvature".</ref>)
*[[Nikolay Pirogov]] (the founder of [[field surgery]])
*[[Jennie Smillie Robertson|Jennie Simile Robertson]] (first female surgeon in Canada)
*[[Valery Shumakov]] (pioneer of artificial organs implantation)
*[[Maria Siemionow]] (pioneer of near-total face transplant surgery)
*[[Thomas Starzl|Thomas E. Starzl]] (pioneer of the development of liver transplantations<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Transplanted Organs: The Liver |url=https://www.starzl.pitt.edu/transplantation/organs/liver.html |access-date= |website=www.starzl.pitt.edu}}</ref>)
*[[Sushruta]] (the first to document an operation of open [[rhinoplasty]]<ref name="auto" />)
*[[Paul Tessier]] (French surgeon in [[Craniofacial surgery]])
*[[Mary Edwards Walker]] (first female surgeon in the United States)
*[[Gazi Yasargil]] (Turkish [[neurosurgeon]], founder of [[microneurosurgery]])
* [[al-Zahrawi]], regarded as one of the greatest medieval surgeons and a father of surgery.<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=12134355|year=2002 |last1=Martín-Araguz |first1=A. |last2=Bustamante-Martínez |first2=C. |last3=Fernández-Armayor Ajo |first3=V. |last4=Moreno-Martínez |first4=J. M. |title=Neuroscience in al Andalus and its influence on medieval scholastic medicine |journal=Revista de Neurología |volume=34 |issue=9 |pages=877–892 |doi=10.33588/rn.3409.2001382 }}</ref>
==Organizations and fellowships==
{{Commons category|Surgeons}}
* [[American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons|ACFAS]]
* [[American College of Surgeons|FACS]]
* [[Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons|FRACDS]]
* [[Royal Australasian College of Surgeons|FRACS]]
* [[Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons|FRCS]]
* [[Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada|FRCS (Canada)]]
* [[Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh|FRCS (Edinburgh)]]
* [[Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland|FRCSI (Ireland)]]
* [[Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons|MRCS]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Surgeons|Surgeons]]
[[Category:Health care occupations]]
[[Category:Positions of authority]]
[[Category:Hospital staff]]