The practice of surgery covers very many areas of medicine and should not be perceived as purely a technical subject.
Surgeons are physicians who operate.
As a consequence the course in surgery cannot be seen in isolation and it is closely associated with the course in medicine. The first two components take place in the first and third terms of year 3, with the final component being in year 5. The knowledge and skills to be developed by the student should be seen as a continuous process from year 3 through year 5 with the emphasis and level of knowledge changing as the student becomes more skilled. Throughout the course objectives in several generic areas will be considered and expanded.