General Surgery

Programs that are staffed by specialists who have expertise in using operative procedures to alleviate problems when a cure is unlikely using medication alone. General surgery can be used for routine procedures performed in a physician"™s office, such as a vasectomy, or for more complicated operations requiring a medical team in a hospital setting such as laparoscopic cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder). Areas of the body treated by general surgery include the stomach, liver, intestines, appendix, breasts, thyroid gland, salivary glands, some arteries and veins, and the skin.