Healthcare stands on two important pillars: physicians and surgeons. These two positions serve as the primary care providers for the patients. Both are extremely hectic professions and have their own responsibilities to serve in healthcare. However, these professions shouldn’t be confused, as these positions are entirely different from each other.
A student who is interested in getting a career in healthcare has to choose between a physician and a surgeon. Both are successful careers and offer big opportunities to students. However, it is important to understand the responsibilities of these professions and how they are different from each other.
Only then will students be able to choose the one that suits them best. So, in this blog, we will explain physicians and surgeons in detail.
Table of Contents
Who is a Physician?
A physician is a healthcare professional who oversees patients and diagnoses their conditions or diseases, and provides treatments and care to patients. Physicians provide immediate care and treatment to patients, and they are the first point of contact in case of a medical emergency.
They also provide preventive care by advising lifestyle changes and precautions so patients can protect themselves from catching or worsening a disease in the future. A physician carries the necessary treatment for patients, which may go on for a short or long-term period.
A physician can specialize in any medical category, like family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, cardiology, ophthalmology, etc, and then they only provide diagnosis and treatment in their area of specialization.
Who is a Surgeon?
A surgeon is a healthcare expert who is responsible for performing medical surgeries on patients as part of the treatment. Surgeons often perform surgeries that pose a serious health risk and need immediate treatment, or they may perform a surgery to avoid a health issue in the future.
A surgeon is a doctor who goes through the same steps of becoming a physician, but they choose a certain specialization and spend further years in study and practice to perform surgical procedures. In the healthcare hierarchy, surgeons are in higher positions than physicians and provide more critical care to patients.
Just like physicians, surgeons also specialize in their field and become the surgeon of a particular practice. For example, a surgeon may choose cardiology and only perform complex medical surgery of the heart, and an orthopedic surgeon performs surgeries for broken bones.
How to become a Physician and Surgeon?
Many students opt for becoming a physician or a surgeon, and this requires a long period of educational and practical experience in a medical school. After passing all the necessary requirements, students finally become licensed surgeons or physicians. So, to become a physician, students have to follow the steps below:
Get a Bachelor’s Degree
First, students have to take admission in a bachelor’s degree program. Students have to study a science-related bachelor’s degree to get a deep dive into biology and the science of the human body. This bachelor’s degree program takes four years, and then students get ready for the next major step.
Attend the Medical School
After completing a bachelor’s degree, students have to get into medical school and start their studies to become a doctor. This period involves studying the human body in detail and learning about diseases and their necessary treatments. It takes four years to complete medical school.
Complete the Residency Period
After medical school, students have to complete their residency period. For students who only wish to remain a physician, they will attend the residency of 3 years and choose the specialization of their choice, like internal medicine, pediatrics, or psychiatry.
However, the students who choose to become surgeons have to complete a longer residency period. Students follow their chosen specialty, like cardiology, oncology, or orthopedics, and learn all the diseases and surgical practices for it. They also have to do fellowship training to gain further practice to handle complex surgeries and cases. So, this period may take around five to seven years.
Get a License and Certification
Both physicians and surgeons have to get their practicing license from the medical board. They have to pass the examination to prove their skills and expertise in medicine and their specialty. Some states also require their own license for physicians and surgeons, so students have to pass that as well to practice as doctors in their state. Additionally, with a license, students may take certain certifications in their specialty, too.
Average Salary of a Surgeon and a Physician
Both physicians and surgeons are careers that require extensive study, training, and perseverance from students. It takes a long time to practice and become an expert in one’s own specialty, and consequently, physicians and surgeons also earn higher salaries. Surgeons usually earn around $371,280, and on the other hand, physicians earn around $253,470
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Which Medical Setting Do Surgeons and Physicians Work?
Physicians and surgeons have different responsibilities. They diagnose patients and use different treatment methods to provide care and guidance to patients. Just like their treatment style, their work settings may differ, too. Surgeons are primarily focused on surgical procedures, and they work in the following settings:
- Public and private hospitals
- Private surgical practices
- University Medical Schools
- Specialized clinics and outpatient centers
However, physicians diagnose and treat patients on a long-term basis, and due to the nature of their job, they have more medical settings to practice as a doctor, which are the following:
- Hospitals
- Clinics
- Private Practices
- Nursing homes
- Medical schools
- Research facilities
- Rehabilitation centers
How Physicians and Surgeons Work Together for Patients
Both surgeons and physicians perform different responsibilities. But it doesn’t mean that they don’t collaborate with each other. In some cases, physicians and surgeons have to work together and provide full treatment care to the patient. For example, in a case where a patient experiences stomach pain.
The patient visits the physician, and after diagnosis or running tests, the physician tells and advises the patient to get surgery for appendicitis. The physician refers the patient to a general surgeon. The patient will undergo the surgery, and after that, the physician will carry out the post-treatment care until the patient is healed. This is how surgeons work alongside physicians and provide treatment to patients.
Final Thoughts
Physicians and surgeons both have the same purpose: to help patients live healthy lives. But the way they provide treatment to the patients is distinct. Physicians diagnose and provide treatment with medicines, lifestyle changes, and precautionary advice to patients. However, if the condition or disease worsens, the patient needs immediate treatment to cure the problem, and the surgeons have to perform surgeries to provide relief to the patients.
In order to pursue either of these professions, the students must complete their educational and practical experience and learning, and then help patients live a healthy life.
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