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Surgeon

Rata Hāparapara

Alternative titles for this job

Surgeons consult with patients and operate on people to treat and manage disease and injuries.

Pay

Trainee surgeons can earn

$64K-$205K per year

Qualified surgeons can earn

$170K-$251K per year

Source: ASMA and RDA, 2021- 2024

Job opportunities

Chances of getting a job as a surgeon are good due to a shortage of workers.

Pay

Pay varies for surgeons depending on seniority, hours, location and frequency of on-call or emergency cover.

Surgeons who work for Te Whatu Ora Health NZ (previous DHBs)

  • House officers (supervised junior doctors) who work for Te Whatu Ora can earn $64,000 to $145,000 a year.
  • Registrars (trainee surgeons) can earn $80,000 to $205,000.
  • Qualified surgeons can earn $170,000 to $251,000.

Surgeons working in the private sector can earn more than this. 

Sources: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, 'New Zealand District Health Boards – Senior Medical and Dental Officers Collective Agreement, 1 April 2022 - 31 March 2023'; and Resident Doctors' Association, 'RDA and 20 District Health Boards Multi Employer Collective Agreement 17 March 2021 to 31 March 2024'.

(This information is a guide only. Find out more about the sources of our pay information)

What you will do

Surgeons may do some or all of the following:

  • examine patients and decide whether operations are needed
  • consult with other medical professionals about patient care and treatment
  • perform and manage operations
  • instruct and manage patients' post-operative care
  • check on patients' progress while they are in hospital
  • keep medical records and send final reports to general practitioners
  • provide follow-up care for patients
  • teach medical students and trainee surgeons
  • carry out research.

Skills and knowledge

Surgeons need to have:

  • knowledge of anatomy and how the human body works
  • surgical skills and knowledge 
  • knowledge of different diseases, illnesses and injuries
  • knowledge of medicines and treatments and the effect these have on patients
  • diagnostic skills
  • up-to-date knowledge of research, treatments and practices
  • knowledge of medical ethics and law.

Surgeons need to have some knowledge of other medical specialities such as oncology, radiology and pathology.

Working conditions

Surgeons:

  • work long and irregular hours, including evenings, nights and weekends
  • work in operating theatres, hospital wards and clinics
  • work in conditions that may be stressful, as they deal with seriously ill or injured patients
  • travel locally to visit hospitals in their region and overseas to attend conferences.

What's the job really like?

Surgeon video

Lisa Chung talks about life as a surgeon – 2.47 mins

View transcript
Being a surgeon – compared to the movies – can be similar in some ways,
but it is not as glamorous. Hi, I'm Lisa,
and I'm a general surgical registrar.
As a surgical registrar,
one of the main parts of my job is to perform surgeries on patients.
A general surgical registrar has quite a few duties,
seeing patients, consulting on them.
We are also involved in teaching junior staff and medical
students. In the mornings,
we come to the patient's room and speak to the patient about their symptoms,
how they're feeling, what their concerns are. If it's post-surgery,
we come and review the patient,
check how they're feeling and how they're recovering.
So we're now in the operating theatre block,
and in order to be in the surgery space, we need to be in scrubs.
So this is the operating theatres, come on in.
So this is where we do the minor surgeries such as small finger injury
surgeries.
The big operating theatre is currently being occupied for major operations.
Once we get to the operating theatre,
it takes a team that involves not only the doctors,
but nurses, orderlies,
administration staff. So some of the key skills we need as a surgeon is to be
a good team player, but also being a leader at times.
Time that I spend in surgery depends on the case.
If it's an infection such as an abscess,
that would take me just a few minutes to do the operation.
But if it was something a bit bigger,
major bowel operation or something like that, that would take several hours.
So the quickest way of becoming a surgeon is to complete med school,
which is 6 years. Then 2 years of being a house surgeon,
2 years of being a junior registrar,
and then 5 years of a senior registrar.
And that might sound terrifying when if you're only 13 or 14,
but it's like an apprenticeship. What we do, we are forever learning.
Surgery has multiple specialties within it.
We call ourselves general surgeons because historically that's what we were. But
now our roles involve specifically the bowel, the stomach,
the food pipe. There are the surgeons who deal with the heart and the lungs,
surgeons who deal with eyes, surgeons who deal with brains.
In order to get through to each of these specialties,
you make a decision early on in your career.
The subjects that you'd need to take in high school include your sciences
and mathematics.
Medicine is full of responsibility.
Sometimes this can be quite daunting,
but you do medicine for the love of people,
and if you love something, then that's the thing you should pursue.

Entry requirements

To become a surgeon you need to:

  • complete the Health Sciences First Year programme at Otago University, or the first year of either the Bachelor of Health Sciences or Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science at Auckland University
  • complete a five-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) degree at Otago or Auckland Universities
  • work for several years as a supervised junior doctor in a hospital
  • complete another five to seven years of specialist training and examinations to become a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

You also need to be registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand. 

The Vulnerable Children Act 2014 means that if you have certain serious convictions, you can’t be employed in a role where you are responsible for, or work alone with, children. 

Secondary education

NCEA Level 3 is required to enter tertiary training. Useful subjects include maths, chemistry, physics, biology and health education.

Personal requirements

Surgeons need to be:

  • accurate and careful, with an eye for detail
  • motivated and disciplined
  • quick and efficient
  • able to work well under pressure
  • able to make good decisions, and solve problems
  • good time managers
  • excellent at analysis and interpretation
  • good at report writing
  • good at communicating and inspiring confidence in others
  • understanding of other cultures' attitudes to medical treatment.

I like using my hands and constructing and building things and that’s what we do. You have to be practically oriented because you’re using saws and hammers and screwdrivers and drills.

Dr Richard Keddell

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Useful experience

Useful experience for surgeons includes:

  • work in hospitals or health clinics
  • work caring for people.

Physical requirements

Surgeons need to have good eyesight (with or without corrective lenses) and good hand-eye co-ordination. They also need to have steady hands.

Surgeons must have a good level of stamina as some surgery can take many hours.

Registration

Surgeons need to be registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand.

Find out more about training

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)
reception.desk@surgeons.org - www.surgeons.org
Medical Council of New Zealand
0800 286 801 - www.mcnz.org.nz
Check out related courses

What are the chances of getting a job?

Number of factors contribute to shortage of surgeons

The shortage of surgeons is due to:

  • New Zealand's growing and ageing population, which means increasing demand for surgeons to perform age-related surgeries
  • an ageing workforce – nearly a third of specialist doctors, including surgeons, are over 55 years old and due to retire in the next 10 years
  • some surgeons moving overseas for better pay and working conditions
  • a worldwide shortage of specialist doctors, which means it can be hard for New Zealand to attract surgeons from overseas to work here.

General surgeon, the largest surgical specialisation, Cardiothoracic surgeon, Neurosurgeon, Orthopaedic surgeon, Vascular surgeon and Urologist appear on Immigration New Zealand's Green List.

This means the Government is actively encouraging skilled surgeons from overseas to work in New Zealand.

Surgeons third largest group of doctors

There are 859 registered surgeons in New Zealand according to the Medical Council of New Zealand.

Surgeons work for public and private hospitals

Surgeons work in public and private hospitals, and may also work in university medical schools.

  • Te Whatu Ora employs all surgeons who work in public hospitals.
  • Private hospitals usually employ surgeons on a casual basis.
  • The medical schools at the Universities of Auckland and Otago employ surgeons in teaching and research roles.

Sources

  • Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, ‘Taking the Temperature of the Hospital Specialist Workforce, August 2014’, accessed January 2018. (www.asms.org.nz). 
  • Immigration New Zealand, Green List, January 2023, (www.immigration.govt.nz).
  • Medical Council of New Zealand registration data, 30 June 2017.
  • Symmes, G, communications manager, Medical Council of New Zealand, Careers Directorate - Tertiary Education Commission interview, October 2017.

(This information is a guide only. Find out more about the sources of our job opportunities information)

Progression and specialisations

Surgeons may progress to teach students and trainee surgeons at larger hospitals. Surgeons can also become clinical directors, combining an administrative role with a surgical one.

Surgeons can specialise in a number of roles including:

Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Cardiothoracic surgeons treat diseases and injuries of the heart, lungs and chest wall.
General Surgeon
General surgeons treat diseases and injuries of the abdomen, breast and endocrine (glandular) organs.
Neurosurgeon
Neurosurgeons diagnose and treat patients with disorders of the central, peripheral and autonomic nervous system including their supportive structures and blood supply.
Orthopaedic Surgeon
Orthopaedic surgeons treat diseases and injuries of the bones, joints, muscles and soft tissue.
Otolaryngologist
Otolaryngologists treat diseases and injuries of the head and neck.
Paediatric Surgeon
Paediatric surgeons diagnose and treat children who may require surgery. This includes the management of congenital abnormalities both ante-natally and in the neonatal period and the management of major trauma in children.
Plastic or Reconstructive Surgeon
Plastic or reconstructive surgeons correct or restore body function or appearance for aesthetic or therapeutic reasons.
Urologist
Urologists diagnose and treat disorders of the urinary tracts in males and females, and male genital organs. It also includes the management of trauma to these organs and the management of male sterilisation, infertility and sexual dysfunction.
Vascular surgeon
Vascular surgeons diagnose and treat patients with disorders of the blood vessels (arteries and veins outside the heart and brain) and the lymphatic system.
Two surgeons wearing gowns, masks, gloves and caps, stand beside a patient. One is using a surgical tool

Surgeons consult with and operate on people who are sick or injured

Last updated 23 January 2024