General Surgery, General Surgery

For the goregrind band, see General Surgery General surgery, despite its name, is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal organs, e.g. intestines including esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland (depending on the availability of head and neck surgery specialists). They also deal with diseases involving the skin and hernias.

However, recently, board certification has been delegated into separate sub-branches, whereby successful completion of a Residency in General Surgery is not necessarily required, but may well be desired - depending on the country and area of practice, as well as the individual sub-specialty.

This a tradition dating back hundreds of years in the United Kingdom that is still in use today. Trainees will then go onto Higher Surgical Training (HST), lasting a further 4 to 5 years. During this time they may choose to subspecialise. Before the end of HST, the examination of Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCA) must be taken in General Surgery plus the subspeciality. Upon completion of training the surgeon will become a Consultant Surgeon and will be eligible for entry on the GMC Specialist Register and may work both in the NHS and independent sector as a Consultant General Surgeon.

Source: Wikipedia > General Surgery