Kasha, I don’t know the exact working hours of these surgeons. I do know that they spend at least 30 hours per week in surgery & clinic. I also know that they spend additional hours per week rounding on their patients & consulting & ordering/ following up on labs, but I don’t know exactly how long this takes (non-surgical physicians I know generally spend over 10 hours per week on these tasks).
I do agree that there are other career choices in the medical field that can be done on a part-time basis. For someone who wants to work well-defined hours & doesn’t want to take call, working as a hosptitalist is a good choice.
However, given your opinion of college campuses, I’m not sure why you’d recommend a career in medicine at all. Any type of board-certified clinical physician in this country must spend at least 10 years in school/ training (assuming one completes undergrad in 3 years). Obviously surgical specialties take longer than, say, primary care.