A surgeon’s responsibility is to save a patient’s life by performing a surgical operation on them and through surgical operations, they are able to cure a disease, condition, or disorder. They are also responsible for consulting a patient about their medical history and about any health problems in order to analyze what their condition is. Surgeons have different specialties as well which is why there is a specific surgeon who can perform a specific type of surgery.
The surgical profession is also a dream to be accomplished due to popular television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and The Good Doctor, the fans of the show also want to be a surgeon and visualize themselves practicing surgery like their favorite characters as well.
But before the surgeons whom most people meet in hospitals and have probably performed surgery on them, the surgeons who are known for their dexterity and competence in an operation room and in medical establishments, actually have undergone years and years of education and training before becoming a certified licensed surgeon.
How Long do Medical Students have to Undergo Before Becoming a Certified Licensed Surgeon in Australia?
It is of basic knowledge that every college student has to undergo about 4 to 5 years of undergraduate studies before getting a degree and taking the exam to finally acquire a license of their dream profession.
For future surgeons, a student must undergo undergraduate studies which in medical courses mostly goes from 4 to 5 years, depending on what kind of program a medical student chose to pursue. After finishing undergraduate studies, they could finally have a degree.
The next step after getting a bachelor’s degree of the chosen course, the graduate will have to do some internship or start training in medical establishments after years in university in order to gain experience about the process of work within the clinical setting. This stage usually lasts for 2 to 3 years.
Once the postgraduate reach their third year in postgraduate training, they could finally register to enter a program to train in the chosen surgical training out of other surgical specialties. This program in Australia is called the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ Surgical Education and Training or (SET). The training that takes place under this program is usually done in public medical establishments and the duration of the training is usually around 5 to 6 years, depending on the type of specialty they chose since every specialty has variations of the duration of the study.
Once the resident completes their training on SET, they can finally be called as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons or FRACS and they could finally be accredited to be a certified surgeon and can practice independently.
All in all, the total number of years of becoming a surgeon could reach up to 11 years until 14 years. Neurosurgeons and cardiovascular surgeons usually have the longest duration of years to study since this specialty focuses on treating and diagnosing the different diseases, conditions, and disorders of the nervous system and circulatory system in which two are of the most sensitive and hardest systems to perform surgery on.
What are the Best Universities in Australia for Medical-Related Undergraduate Studies?
In this segment of the article, you will know about which are the best universities for a course in medicine in Australia.
- The University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne is the best university for medicine in Australia and according to research, this university is ranked 18 in global rankings for one of the best universities for students who are pursuing a medical course.
- The University of Sydney. Coming in second place is The University of Sydney is one of the best medical schools in Australia. In the QS global ranking, it is ranked 19, coming after The University of Melbourne, as one of the best universities for medicine courses.
- Monash University School of Medicine. This university takes third place on the podium and it is ranked 36 in the global rankings by QS Top Universities this 2021 as one of the best schools for medicine.
- University of New South Wales (UNSW) Medical School. The next university in Australia ranks fourth as one of the best universities in Australia for medicine and in global rankings, it is ranked 45 in the ranks as a great school for medicine.
- The University of Queensland School of Medicine. As for the last place among the top five best universities for medicine in Australia, The University of Queensland School of Medicine takes the rank and in global rankings of universities for medicine, it is ranked as 51 according to QS Top Universities Ranking this 2021.
The Bottomline
Being a surgeon may take almost more than a decade to achieve, however, if you truly wish to become one, you will need the perseverance, passion, hard work, and motivation to withstand the competitive environment of medical studies and training in medical establishments. You must always retain your fighting spirit since it was mentioned before that the medical field in the profession is extremely challenging since you will have to deal with the healthcare of other people and their well-being as well. A huge responsibility will be left in your hands and you must do your best to fulfill it excellently.
Just remember to prepare yourself no matter what, medical course or not, college is the beginning of a person’s independence and we will struggle multiple times during our tertiary level of education, followed by exposing ourselves to a more professional line of work which could be daunting.
There is no easy way to reach an ultimate goal, but just as long as you are always striving for the best and aiming high, it will be guaranteed that all of your hard work, daily mental breakdowns, and sleepless nights will be paid off in the end.
To the future surgeons who are reading this, good luck and keep going!
To our medical professionals, we salute you!
