What are the pros and cons of being a plastic surgeon?

The pros of being a plastic surgeon include making an impact on people's lives and high compensation, while the cons include long work hours. Here are the top pros and cons of being a plastic surgeon:

Pros:

• Making an impact on people's lives

One of the best aspects of being a plastic surgeon is the fact that you get to make positive changes in the lives of your patients, sometimes profoundly. Plastic surgeons provide surgical treatments for a wide range of conditions. They can help patients suffering from deformities and other appearance issues. The work can be extremely fulfilling and satisfying.

• High compensation

Plastic surgeons are some of the highest-paid medical professionals in the healthcare industry. The average salary of a plastic surgeon in the United States is $421,250 per year. And some can make well over that figure per year. This also depends on other factors, but nearly all plastic surgeons experience exceptional pay for their work.

• Job security

The field of plastic surgery has been growing for years now, and this growth is expected to continue into the next decade. This means a plastic surgeon in most cases won't have any problem finding and retaining a job. It also means that they choose where to work in terms of state or region to a large degree.

Cons:

• Long work hours

Plastic surgeons typically work over 40 hours per week. Many keep weekly schedules of 45 to 60 hours. However, some can also put in over 70 hours in a work week. This is because there are fewer plastic surgeons than general nurses in the medical field.

Being specialized in plastic surgery demands that plastic surgeons be ready to work more hours than general surgeons. Plastic surgeons have to work many hours, particularly if they specialize in a form of surgery that is in high demand.

This is one of several reasons that they have particularly long work weeks with lots of hours. A plastic surgeon's work week hours can fluctuate from week to week depending on their patient load, and other factors as well.

• Educational requirements

It is a huge commitment in terms of time and effort to become a plastic surgeon. This includes a relevant bachelor's degree, four more years of medical school, five years of participating in a residency program, and then sometimes one to two years of fellowship training.

Plastic surgeons perform very sensitive medical procedures, ones that don't leave room for error. Mistakes by plastic surgeons could have disastrous consequences for their patients, and can even lead to lawsuits, and at worst, the loss of their job and license to practice.

• It's a physically demanding job

Plastic surgeons often have to spend long stretches of hours on their feet, and they also must remain laser-focused while doing so. This can be a challenging element of the job and can also take its toll physically and emotionally.