[Activities of the general surgeon in a non-university hospital]

There is little difference between the work of the general surgeon as the head of a provincial hospital (B2) or in a central non-university one (A2). The operative statistics of such a service show that the type of operations is varied and requires broad polyvalence. Surgical services in provincial hospitals should not be subdivided into several specialised department. There is a real need for general surgeons in our country. Their quality depends on a broad and adequate training including the majority of surgical specialities. Such an activity requires constant postgraduate training, analysis of the results and ability to self criticism. Frequent contacts should be encouraged with other colleagues and university hospitals. The head surgeon in a provincial hospital should be able to evaluate the majority of the cases which are submitted to him and to decide whether the patient will be operated by him personnally or by a specialized consultant, or whenever he should be transferred to a specialized unit. This type of work has certain advantages: the possibility of independent decisions, a broad ability in the different surgical fields, allowing an easy adaptation when unexpected situations happen during operation.