Do Surgeons Look Down On Other Types Of Surgeons?

This question was originally posted on Quora.com and below are some of the best answers.

Answer 1 by Newton Reed, M.D. Internal Medicine

The sad fact is that the way different surgeons look condescendingly upon other surgeons is purely based on the “prestige” of the surgeon’s subspeciality and the difficulty of getting into that particular discipline. For example, it’s extremely difficult to get into cardiothoracic surgery so they tend to have the biggest chip on their shoulders. Next would be neurosurgeons, again because of the competitiveness and difficulty of their surgery. Orthopaedic surgeons are mostly jerks to begin with. The specialty tends to attract a lot of jerks. In my daughter’s medical school class, she was able to spot almost 100% of her classmates that eventually end up doing orthopaedic surgery. General surgeons, who in the past were at the top of their heap, have unfortunately been delegated to the bottom rung. They are how we internists are looked down upon by cardiologists.

The other surgical specialties I personally have no qualms against. Urologists, OB-Gyn, ENT, ophthalmologists, as are the rest of the surgical subspecialties.

Now, this is the culture that’s pervasive in the US. And in no way am I saying it’s pervasive in every corner. This is more of a generalisation of how the surgical hierarchy tends to fall.

Answer 2 by Rise Hatten, former Ob-Gyn at Saint Paul, MN

There is a running joke about Ob-Gyns. It goes: we get no respect. Midwives say we don't know anything about delivering a baby. Surgeons say we don't know anything about suture material. FPs say we don't know anything about women's health. Urologist say we have 2 surgeries -- Tie off the right ureter and tie off the left ureter. We say, that all may be true, but we know birth control.

A general surgeon may look down on us, but a colon and rectal surgeon may look down on them, then a cardiac surgeon looks down on those 2, and an interventional radiologists looks down on everybody.

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