SURGIA Newsletter: General Surgery Edition Volume II Issue 1 | Page 17

Q&A WITH A SURGICAL REGISTRAR
by Dr. Thomas Arthur, Surgical Registrar

Thank you Dr Arthur for assisting SURGIA in publishing this month’s magazine on General Surgery.
It is very nice to have you here today. Would you like
to tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a Surgical Registrar on the General Surgery training
programme, currently working at the Logan Hospital in
my third year of training. I graduated from University of
Queensland in 2009 and spent the first 18 months as a
junior doctor in Cairns, then spent the next couple of
years at the Gold Coast working as a service registrar
before starting training.
What interested you about general surgery?
I started medical school with the thought that I was going to be a neurologist, but neurology lost its appeal
over the first couple of years… I think I first became interested in general surgery on a rural rotation in my third
year – I spent a few days with the Flying Surgeon out in
Roma and the work really appealed to me.
What is being a general surgeon like?
I’m not qualified yet, so I can only say what I hope it is,
and that’s a rewarding, varied career with a high amount
of job satisfaction.
How would you describe the lifestyle?
The lifestyle of a surgical registrar has certainly changed
over the years. Where previously 80 – 100 hour weeks
were expected, the hours are now a lot more reasonable ~ 50 -60 hours a week. You’ll still probably work a
little more hours than the non-procedural specialties, but
those hours are required so that you are trained to an
adequate standard. It’s entirely possible to have a happy
work-life balance these days.
What are some common misconceptions about general surgery?
The name itself is a bit of a misconception – “general
surgery” is almost a misnomer these days, particularly
in the metropolitan centres where subspecialisation has
become common place.

The culture of surgery in general has