General Surgery
Operative management of abdominal, soft-tissue, and trauma disease.
General surgeons operate on abdominal pathology (gallbladder, hernia, bowel, breast, endocrine), trauma, and a substantial volume of cancer. Residency is famously demanding both physically and intellectually. After 5 clinical years, most pursue a fellowship; pure general practice is becoming rarer outside community settings.
Lifestyle & practice
Resident hours run 70 to 80 per week within ACGME limits. Attending hours vary widely: rural community 50 to 60, trauma center 60 to 80. Comp $350k to $500k general, higher for subspecialty.
Common fellowship paths
- Residency length
- 5 clinical years (often 7 with research)
- Median comp (general)
- $400k to $450k
- Attrition
- ~20% over 5 years, real concern
High-signal external links curated for residents and applicants.
- American College of Surgeons ↗
Premier specialty society. NSQIP, ATLS, board prep.
- SCORE Curriculum ↗
Standard general surgery resident curriculum.
- Behind the Knife podcast ↗
Most popular surgery podcast, made by residents and attendings.
- AST review ↗
American Board of Surgery, governs certification.
- General Surgery forum (SDN) ↗
Long-running medical career forum with active specialty subforums.
Positions
1717
All applicants
2529
Seats / app
0.68
From NRMP Charting Outcomes 2024 (most recent biennial publication). Source PDFs: MD Seniors / DO Seniors / IMG. NRMP publishes Charting Outcomes every other year, so this should refresh in early 2026 with the 2025 cycle data.
| Pool | Step 1 | Step 2 | Pubs | Research | AOA % | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MD_seniors | 235 | 253 | 10.9 | 4.2 | 22.0 | 858 |
| DO_seniors | 241 | 248 | 6.9 | 3.5 | — | 216 |
| US_IMG | 235 | 248 | 8.3 | 3.8 | — | 57 |
| Non_US_IMG | 243 | 249 | 22.2 | 4.4 | — | 69 |
Per-applicant-type match rates and mean Step scores published by NRMP every two years. Each row is one applicant pool in one cycle. Step scores reflect what matched applicants in that cycle achieved, not what programs require today.
| Year | Type | Match rate | Matched (n) | Step 1 | Step 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | MD_Senior | 82.6% | 858 | 235 | 253 |
| 2024 | DO_Senior | 71.5% | 216 | — | 248 |
| 2024 | IMG | 30.8% | 57 | — | 248 |
| 2022 | MD_Senior | 82.8% | 826 | 237 | 250 |
| 2022 | IMG | 33.0% | 62 | 236 | 246 |
| 2020 | MD_Senior | 84.5% | 939 | 237 | 249 |
| 2020 | DO_Senior | 68.9% | 175 | 231 | 243 |
| 2018 | MD_Senior | 85.1% | 919 | 236 | 248 |
| 2018 | IMG | 33.3% | 61 | 237 | 245 |
| Pool | Share |
|---|---|
| MD_seniors | 66.7% |
| DO_seniors | 15.5% |
| US_IMG | 8.3% |
| Non_US_IMG | 9.5% |