Should I be a surgeon? Advantages and disadvantages of the profession

Should I be a surgeon? Advantages and disadvantages of the profession There are hardly a dozen professions that are as important as the profession of a doctor, especially a surgeon. Only they can save human lives when other doctors can’t do anything. However, the surgeon's profession is not only honorable, but also responsible. This dilemma implies many advantages and disadvantages of this specialty. If you want to work in medical sphere but do not know what some specialists do, look at the Medical Jobs by Function.

Features of the profession The burden of responsibility for the lives of other people, which surgeons take upon themselves, leaves a big imprint on this profession. Surgery is a great physical and psychological stress for both the patient and the doctor. But the work of surgeons includes not only directly surgical intervention (the operation itself) and postoperative support, but also the diagnosis of the disease. A lot depends on the correct diagnosis, and again, the surgeon takes all the responsibility.

The specialty "surgery" is very wide, divided into many areas, divided according to different criteria. Surgeons are profiled on certain types of diseases (oncologist, gynecologist), on diseases of a certain anatomical area (cardiac surgeon, neurosurgeon), etc. But highly specialized surgeons are required not only to be well-versed “in their subject”. The knowledge of doctors should be as extensive as possible, if necessary, to help the patient with a problem that is not related to their profile, or correctly redirect him to the right specialist.

Arguments in favor of the profession The most significant advantage of being a surgeon lies in the social significance of the profession. The health and life that people entrust to the hands of surgeons is the most valuable. Because they are trusted, appreciated and respected, this profession is in demand at any time. Any state needs surgeons, they are offered a lot of places of work: polyclinics, hospitals, sanatoriums, dispensaries, emergency rooms, emergency departments, rescue services, sports and scientific organizations, etc. So there are problems with the subsequent employment of a surgeon student should not arise. Another thing is the financial side of the issue. The salaries of doctors of surgical specialties also differ in some variety. It all depends again on the profile of the specialist and on the type of medical facility. So, for example, private and prestigious / demanded clinics can afford to more generously pay for the work of surgeons. As for the most highly paid specializations of a surgeon, among them plastic, dental surgery, etc. can be distinguished.

Disadvantages of the profession One of the main drawbacks of the surgeon’s work is that people who want to take this proud profession are faced at the very beginning of the journey, on the approaches to the profession. This training, obtaining a specialty: long (medical higher education longer than many others), a complex, debilitating and multi-component process. In addition, obtaining a diploma does not give the right to immediately engage in surgical practice, it should be supported by subsequent practical education - internship and residency. Not only the duration and difficulty of getting an education can scare future surgeons. A doctor specializing in surgery should have, in addition to knowledge and skills, certain characterological features. The surgeon’s professionalism is his strong-willed qualities: without self-control, stress resistance, endurance and scrupulousness, you can’t become a good specialist in this profession.

Costs of the profession But even if all the necessary qualities are there and there are enough forces / time to get a specialty, the shortcomings and features of the profession of a surgeon do not end there. During the practice, the surgeon's health (physical and psychological) is repeatedly endangered. At the same time, it can be hidden both in visible and in hidden threats.

The former include the probability of contracting dangerous diseases from patients (AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis). Surgeons during surgical intervention and diagnosis of this group of patients, of course, follow special precautions, but the risk is still great. Also, patients of surgical departments often become socially dangerous individuals (for example, victims of scuffles under the influence of alcohol and drugs or members of gangs after shootings). The second, hidden risks include the imperceptible, but significant harm that the psychological state of the surgeon does to his work. An irregular work schedule, moral exhaustion, constant psychological pressure and a burden of responsibility, as well as guilt with a negative / fatal outcome of a patient’s treatment, all this threatens the psychological well-being of the surgeon.

The exact amount of time for daily work and rest is determined.

Known fact: frequent breaks during the working day are very useful for maintaining a healthy working capacity, focus and creative abilities. But do many people deal with such utility in practice?

Last year's University of Toronto research on the principles of organizing lunch breaks in the office environment found that the absence of these breaks reduces productivity. One of the authors of the study, associate professor John Trugakos of the Organization for the Study of the Working Mode and Personnel Management, claims that the supply of psychological energy in the human brain is strictly limited.

“The tasks of monitoring the operating mode are the calculation and replenishment of the supply of psychological energy. When such a psychological reservoir is emptied, a decrease in labor productivity occurs in any field of activity, ”the scientist writes.

Recently, Draugiem Group, a social media research company, supplemented a Canadian study. Researchers set up an experiment, wondering what habits the most efficient workers have. It was found that 10% of employees with the highest labor productivity in some surprising way spend no more time on work than everyone else. Moreover, such employees do not even work out a full eight-hour working day, as take regular breaks. Dry, but very “speaking” figures: on average, after every 52 minutes of active work, such employees rest for 17 minutes.

“The best way to replenish your focus is to step back from the task and take a break,” said productivity expert Katy Sexton, who is not surprised at the overall result of the Draugiem Group study.

Surprisingly, other conclusions of scientific work relating to specific classes during the breaks of those most effective employees.

“17 minutes of relaxation are spent entirely away from the computer - without checking email, without watching YouTube videos,” says Gifford. - Walking, chatting with colleagues (namely chatter, not talking on working topics), solitude for reading books - the most common pastime during breaks of the most productive workers.

The following selection of tips will help you competently organize a sufficient number of breaks during the working day:

    Schedule breaks in your daily work schedule. Ideally, every 52 minutes.
    Set an alarm or “reminder” to know when to return to work.
    The list of scheduled tasks should be realistic. We often underestimate the amount of time required to complete a particular job.
    Before the start of the working day, select the three main goals on which you should focus. And current and constantly arriving tasks need to be marked on another, separate sheet. If necessary, you can change their priorities.

Work.ua wishes everyone to find personal harmony between work and rest, even if it does not coincide with the data of scientists.

A hired programmer: a look from recruiters and programmers themselves

As the programmer recruiter sees

On Work.ua, about 12% of vacancies are posted for the IT sector, and 42% of them are for programmers. Undoubtedly, programmers are in demand today, which Galina Kalysh, an IT recruiter, knows firsthand. She compares the programmers during the hiring process with the suitors, and identifies 5 types of such suitors.
1. Alphonse or walking

They will always go where it is better, more beautiful, where they pay better and better buns.
2. Lovers

They can be in love with a company or a vacancy, and at the interview they will say everything that a recruiter wants to hear, just to get a job. But such a specialist can be quickly lost, because love can quickly pass.
3. Self-confident

These are not team players, but rather lonely loners, whom it is desirable to carry on hands, otherwise they will go to where the pedestal is prepared.
4. Quiet maniacs or "introverts"

One of the most difficult types of programmers: they don’t tell what they want, they are difficult to understand, and finding a common language is even more so.
5. In-flight

According to the experience of recruiters, there are interviews that random people fall into. Most often, they pass on a dispute or curiosity for the sake of. It's a shame if they go through all levels of interviews, get a job, and only then reveal their true intentions.

As a programmer sees a programmer

“What programmers want” is a rhetorical question like “What women want.” Because basically programmers, like women, simply don’t know what they want, ”Alexei Retyunin compares programmers with women and identifies 6 characteristic types of colleagues.
1. Priestesses of love

Luring them is easy enough: for $ 100 they’re ready to go to any company. But the problem is different, because a neighbor can offer 200 dollars. Yes, and what trace they will leave in the project after their departure, and how long it will take to fix it is a mystery.
2. Glamorous kitties

Representatives of this class are chasing after everything new and brilliant: stuffing from new technologies at the latest frameworks is the trump card in negotiations with them. If you write in Java 7, they will not come to you for anything, but if you write in Java 8, they will come running with pleasure, and it does not matter what you are developing at all. But their migrations to all new frameworks do not end, you need to be prepared for this.
3. Vanilla

These programmers are very difficult to lure, because they are very loyal to their employers, they do not care what to do and on what, the main thing is the surroundings (team, buns, communications). They have one more peculiarity: often they cannot explain what they want.
4. Shopaholics

These collectible buns, they know their worth, and in general they are universal soldiers who can do almost anything. And they really need to constantly add buns.
5. Punks

The most mysterious representatives who struggle with the system and the mainstream love to write on some esoteric systems, and, it is important to note, they often do it superbly. For them, their favorite technology and work is a priority, and not the working conditions and the number of buns.
6. Strong independent women

They usually agree on everything, without special ambitions, ask a little, do not spoil anything, but at the same time they rarely “create” it.


Often, programmers and recruiters speak different languages: some in Russian, some in C #, some in English, some in Java. Work.ua wants both one and the other to always find a common language, understanding and to do their work with inspiration.

How to email a resume so that it is read

If you submit your resume through job search sites, you use the facilitated response form for the vacancy, as, for example, on the site Work.ua. And you do not need to think about what to write in the subject line of the letter, where to attach the cover letter and what recipient address to enter.

But sometimes you have to directly contact the employer, recruitment agency or recruiter. In this case, you need to remember a few simple and important rules for sending a resume by e-mail, so that the letter is not lost and must be considered.
1. Indicate the subject of the letter

The first and important rule, which, according to recruiters, is neglected by many. The field for the topic must be filled. Indicate in the subject, for example: “Response to a vacancy ...”, or “Resume for a position ...”, or write directly - “I am a designer”.

So your letter will go through a spam filter and the recipient will understand that he received an appeal on the topic of his interest at the moment.
2. Fill the body of the letter with a cover sheet

Sending an empty letter to an employer with a resume attached to it has long been considered bad form. Use the body of the message to place a cover letter in it. It is easy enough to stand out with it if you know how to compose a cover letter that will work.

If there is absolutely nothing to say, you can always use the option:

"Hello! Please consider my candidacy for a vacant position ... and read my resume in the attached file. Yours faithfully, ..."

Even this banal and template version looks much better than a message without text.
3. Do not abuse smiles

Emoticons, or the language of emojis, are very popular in correspondence. But do not forget that the stage of sending a resume carries the business and formal nature of communications, and you probably do not even know the recipient of your letter. Save emoticons in the form of real emotions for an interview.
4. Correctly attach the file with the resume

A file with a resume, portfolio or other documents indicated in the body of the letter must be attached to the letter. If you forget to attach the desired file, this will not make the best impression. In this case, double-check that documents that are outdated or oriented to a different position are not attached to the resume.

Never name the file simply “resume.doc”. The best option is to indicate your name and the name of the vacancy. For example, "Petrov resume sales manager." An employer can receive many emails with the same name of the attached file in one day, and save all of them in one folder. Having saved him from bad work, you will win extra points.

When using MSWord for compiling resumes, it is better to keep the file available for the old version of the editor. It will open in the new, which the employer may not have, and the previous variations of the program. For a more attractive appearance, the summary can be saved in PDF format.
5. Check the letter for grammatical errors

Make sure that there are no grammatical errors or typos in the text of the letter and in the summary itself. Errors in such a letter are unacceptable: check it using a special spelling or speller. This assistant may not notice all the errors, but without it it is much worse.
6. Fill in the recipient address last

It is advisable to do this last with an ulterior motive - this is the best guarantee that the letter will not go away by mistake, for example, after accidentally pressing the wrong key. Also, you do not need to add any more recipients when sending a resume, even in a copy. You’re writing a letter to respond to a specific vacancy, right?
7. Send a resume letter in the evening or in the morning

According to statistics, 40% of letters written in the late evening or early morning, “break through” more often. To be in the forefront of letters that the recruiter will look at, send him after 20:00 and until 8:00.


And only when you are sure that all 7 points have been completed, can the letter be considered ready to be sent. Work.ua also recommends that you familiarize yourself with other tips on how to correctly apply for a job in order to use in practice all the details of the job search process.

Warren Buffett Productivity Strategy

Step 1: Write down 25 main goals

This task may take some time to consider all your plans and transfer them to paper. But you can start small and complete this exercise using only short-term goals. Try recording 25 things you would like to do this week right now.
Step 2: Reread the list, select and circle the 5 critical points

Stop right now and complete the first two steps before proceeding to the third. At the output you should have 2 lists:

    List A with five critical items;
    list B with twenty important, but not so priority tasks

See also: Working longer does not mean working more productively.
Step 3: Clean Up

What do you think now to do with these two lists? Your option - most of the time to fulfill the 5 most important goals and occasionally turn to the other twenty? Here, Buffett disagrees with you:

“The items that you have not circled are a list of things to avoid at all costs. Whatever happens, from now on you should not pay any attention to List B until you reach the five most important goals. ”
Give up to win

Simplicity and minimalism are the key to success. Parting with all things that are not critical is a great way to make life easier, develop good habits, and learn how to enjoy what you have.

Buffett's strategy is a brilliant way to prioritize. The list items 6 through 25 are exciting, they are interesting and seem important - it’s easy to see why it takes so long. But, if we compare them with the five main goals, it turns out that list B is only distracting. Wasting time on matters of secondary importance is the reason that instead of five fully implemented projects you have 20 incomplete ones.

See also: 15 rules to help you get things done faster.

Take away the excess. Focus. Complete the task or get rid of it. The main enemies of productivity are pleasant things that do not bring tangible results.

9 topics not worth discussing at work

You cannot create a strong professional network of contacts if you do not open to colleagues. But the trick is to circumvent 9 topics in a conversation with colleagues. It is they, the ill-fated, who are able to spoil the relationship and career as a whole.
1. That you do not like your job

The last thing someone wants to hear at work is complaints about how much someone hates their work. These are the first markers of you as a negative character of a team, a non-team player, which reduce the morale of the entire team.
2. That you consider someone incompetent

There are always incompetent people in the team. Moreover, often everyone knows everything about these. If you are unable to change the situation (to train / fire / open your eyes to the decision maker), then you should not develop the topic of someone's insolvency. If only because she can turn on you.
3. How much do you earn

If you are not in the habit of hiding your earnings, enter this rule unofficially. No one is motivated by the fact that someone received the award, let it be deserved, but you are not. Competitions among themselves, comparisons of colleagues give rise to envy and negativity. As in the famous joke: "Raise my salary by $ 100, otherwise I will tell everyone that you have already raised me $ 200."
4. On political and religious beliefs

Political views and religious beliefs are so deeply rooted in people that they already divide society into their own and enemies. Each of us has our own ideas about history, political science, we have accumulated a stock of tactics and strategies for conducting combat and foreign economic activity, we have clear beliefs about which religion is the best. But you do not need to imagine yourself the owner of the only true opinion and sow discord, imposing it. It is better to simply bypass these topics.
5. Your intimate life and opinion about the intimate life of others

The good 111% of the people you work with do not want to know about your personal life or discuss the personal lives of mutual acquaintances. Do not impose such conversations and avoid them yourself. This will be the most diplomatic and deliberate step on your part.
6. About your exploits of days gone by

Your past can say a lot about you. If you did something outlandish or stupid 20 years ago, it is not necessary to tell about it on every corner. Only if this act is not somehow connected with your profession and you want to teach a wise lesson, tested on yourself, to your successors.
7. Jokes that colleagues do not perceive

If in a collective your jokes “do not enter”, or even offend others, learn to restrain your comic impulse. Making destructive notes in the workflow, you can become, at least, an outcast.
8. About your ambitions at work

Sounding personal ambitions at work, when they are in direct conflict with the interests of other people, are perceived selfishly. Good employees are those who primarily achieve the goals of the team, and secondly, their personal ones.
9. That you are looking for a new job

Until you have made the final decision to change your job, do not share these plans with anyone. Otherwise, you can be helped in making such a decision by dismissal.