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Transplantation Surgery


A Career In Transplantation Surgery

I consider Transplantation Surgery the speciality, which includes every single subspecialty in surgery. Indeed to perform a kidney transplant you need to be a good vascular surgeon and a good urological surgeon. To perform a pancreatic transplant you need to be a good vascular surgeon, a good pancreatic surgeon and good gastrointestinal surgeon. To perform a liver transplant, you need to be a good vascular surgeon, a good hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal surgeon. Therefore if you are a multiorgan transplant surgeon, you need to be an expert in all different branches of surgery and in addition, be a good physician and knowledgeable in immunology and immunosuppresson. It is a full time speciality with a large amount of patient involvement and therefore far from being boring. On call duties are heavy in view of the requirement for organ procurement and after-hours transplants and sorting out potential complications. This however, is getting better because of current restrictions in working hours.

Private practice income is minimal and transplantation is not usually considered a separate training speciality; it needs to be associated with another sub-speciality such as general surgery, vascular surgery or urology in that order. There is a shortage of well-trained Transplant Surgeons and therefore the opportunities are great. Training in the UK is still not well structured and most appointees to good centres have completed a Fellowship in the US where the training has been in place for over two decades. Training will take place after the completion of at least four years of General Surgery and will be on average two years long.

For further information and details take a look at the following websites: > The British Transplant Society > The Transplant Society > American Society of Transplant Surgeons

Nadey Hakim
Surgical Director
West London Transplant Unit

Last updated 25/12/06