Surgeon
General surgery: appendices, hernias, gallbladders, bowel cancer — the operations hospitals do every single day.
Save this career to see your personalized pathway in My Senda.
- Typical pay
- €48k–€110k
- Usual education
- Medicine degree + 5-year surgical residency
- Outlook
- Stable; laparoscopic and robotic skills increasingly expected.
A day in the life
Theatre lists, ward rounds, emergency calls at 3am, and clinics where you explain to someone what you are about to do to their body.
Ways in
- Medicine degree
- MIR exam
- Five-year general and digestive surgery residency
- Fellowship or sub-specialty after residency
What to study at 16
The subjects you choose for the final years of secondary school can shape which degrees, exams and careers are easiest to reach. This is about choosing courses, not choosing a school.
Spain
Bachillerato de Ciencias y Tecnología
Portugal
Ciências e Tecnologias
France
Bac général — spécialités
Germany
Oberstufe — Leistungskurse
Italy
Liceo scientifico
Netherlands
Profiel Natuur & Gezondheid
Exams you'll need
The gates between you and this job, and when each one comes.
MIR — Médico Interno Residente
You need MIR to specialise and practise in the Spanish public system.
RequiredTest di Medicina
Same capped entry test as every Italian medicine student, years before you specialise.
Skills that matter
Best courses to take
The study routes that lead most directly into this career.
Degree in Medicine
Six years, the highest entrance marks in the country, and the only route to becoming a doctor of any specialty.
Five surgical years after the degree.
Helpful school subjects: Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Pharmacology, Clinical rotations
Places that hire for this
AKH Wien – MedUni Wien
Training and entry-level roles across clinical, nursing and technical teams.
Amsterdam UMC
Training and entry-level roles across clinical, nursing and technical teams.
Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP)
Training and entry-level roles across clinical, nursing and technical teams.
Centrum Zdrowia Dziecka
Training and entry-level roles across clinical, nursing and technical teams.
Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Hires across clinical teams, from placements to permanent posts.
Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João
Training and entry-level roles across clinical, nursing and technical teams.
CHUV Lausanne
Training and entry-level roles across clinical, nursing and technical teams.
Clínica Universidad de Navarra
Hires across clinical teams, from placements to permanent posts.
Comunidad de Madrid
Hires across clinical teams, from placements to permanent posts.
Elsan
Hires across clinical teams, from placements to permanent posts.