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OaSIS 2025 Version 1.0
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31101.01 – General surgeons

General surgeons treat diseases, injuries and deformities by performing surgical procedures.

Overview

Example job titles

  • General surgeon
  • General surgeon - Canadian armed forces

Core competencies

  • Critical Thinking, Decision Making and Problem Solving to assess patient symptoms, diagnostic tests and medical histories to determine the most appropriate surgical approach and appropriately respond to complications that may arise during surgical procedures
  • Equipment and Tool Selection to select the most appropriate surgical instruments to use based on the specific surgical task, patient anatomy and available tools
  • Finger Dexterity to precisely use surgical instruments to perform procedures to correct physical abnormalities and repair injuries while minimizing blood loss
  • Problem Identification and Inductive Reasoning to analyze patient symptoms, diagnostic test results and potential diagnosis criteria to develop reasonable conclusions about the possible diseases or damage to treat in patients
  • Stress Tolerance to perform surgical procedures in high-pressure situations to preserve patients' health
  • Knowledge in Physical Health to understand anatomical structures and the impact of surgical interventions on overall health to identify potentially unsafe abnormalities

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Treat diseases, injuries, and deformities by invasive, minimally-invasive, or non-invasive surgical methods, such as using instruments, appliances, or by manual manipulation.

Additional information

  • Progression to management positions, such as chief of surgery, is possible with experience.

Similar occupations classified elsewhere

Exclusions:

  • Chiropractors (31201)
  • General practitioners and family physicians (31102)
  • Managers in health care (30010)
  • Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (31110.02)
  • Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating (31209)
  • Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals (31303)
  • Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine (31100)

NOC hierarchy breakdown

NOC version

NOC 2021 Version 1.0

Broad occupational category

3 – Health occupations

TEER

1 – Occupations usually require a university degree

Major group

31 – Professional occupations in health

Sub-major group

311 – Health treating and consultation services professionals

Minor group

3110 – Physicians and veterinarians

Unit group

31101 – Specialists in surgery

Occupational profile

31101.01 – General surgeons

O*NET in-it

This page includes information from the O*NET 27.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Employment and Social Development Canada has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.