Interview Questions

General Surgeon Interview Questions

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A General Surgeon is a medical specialist who performs surgery for a wide range of illnesses. They are educated and trained in the diagnosis, preoperative, operative and postoperative management of patient care.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of General Surgeon or an employer preparing to interview candidates for General Surgeon position, these General Surgeon interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

General Surgeon Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based General Surgeon interview questions.

1. How do you ensure sterility in the operating room before an operation?
2. How long have you been working as a surgeon?
3. There is a risk that a patient may not survive a surgery, but the surgery is necessary. Would you perform the surgery? Explain your answer.
4. How would you say you communicate with other members of a medical team?
5. What would you say are the most valuable lessons you learned during your medical residency?
6. Can you describe a typical work week in your current position?
7. What process do you follow when examining a patient with a deformity?
8. Have you published any scholarly articles or text regarding specific surgical procedures or outcomes?
9. Do you have experience in managing or leading a team?
10. What is your process for determining whether a patient needs emergency surgery?
11. What procedure do you follow when performing emergency surgery?
12. What do you feel is the most important part of a general surgeon's job?
13. How often do you perform routine maintenance on your surgical equipment?
14. Can you describe the strategies you use when trying to communicate medical terminology or complex procedures to patients who are unfamiliar with medical language?
15. What do you think is the most important aspect of patient care during surgery?
16. Have you ever dealt with a patient who refused a vital procedure on the grounds of their religious beliefs. What did you do?
17. During surgery you call for a certain instrument that you're told isn't available, and this adds time to the surgery that otherwise would have been much shorter; how would you address this problem?
18. You are doing surgery alone with a technician assisting you when you start to feel faint. What should you do?
19. How important is continuing education to you?
20. How has your manual dexterity helped your surgical skills in theatre?
21. In what ways do you try to exceed a patient's expectations?
22. If a patient needed a surgery you regularly perform, but the patient’s medical history made the surgery more challenging, how would you prepare?
23. Can you describe your techniques and strategies for calming and supporting patients and their families?
24. What would you do if a surgical procedure took longer than expected and another patient was waiting for surgery?
25. What is your most preferred surgical procedure to perform?
26. What preoperative procedures do you follow when treating a patient?
27. How would you describe your impact on the surgical team that you're currently part of?
28. We want to improve our surgery wait times. How would you structure your day to maximize the number of surgeries you complete each day?
29. Have you ever encountered a situation in which you started surgery and discovered that a patient had an additional problem or potential diagnosis?
30. How do you feel about medical, non-surgical treatment for appendicitis?
31. Can you describe what goes on in your mind during surgery?
32. Provide an example of a time when you had to perform a surgery you had never done before. What was your process for learning the procedure and how did you prepare your patient?
33. Can you describe a situation in which you had to give a patient, or family members of a patient, bad news? What approach did you take, and would you act similarly if you were able to have the conversation again?
34. If you order a blood transfusion of two units of packed cells and your patient stabilizes after the first, should you or should you not give the second unit?
35. Do you have a process for managing stress and maintaining your composure during surgery?
36. Has there ever been a time in which you disagreed with another surgeon regarding a diagnosis, procedure, surgical technique or any other aspect of patient care? How did you handle it?
37. What are the most common types of surgeries you perform on a regular basis?
38. What makes you the best candidate for a general surgeon position at our facility?

General Surgeon Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during General Surgeon interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

1. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
2. Why Should We Hire You?
3. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
4. What is Your Greatest Strength?
5. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
6. What is Your Greatest Weakness?
7. What is Your Salary Expectation?
8. Tell Me About Yourself
9. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
10. Why Do You Want This Job?

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