I would argue that if you consider your personal project to be a form of work, then something is wrong. If the principal reason that you're working on your own

I would argue that if you consider your personal project to be a form of work, then something is wrong. If the principal reason that you're working on your own personal projects is to be able to pad out your resume, then I agree with you. I don't think surgery is a good analogy. Engineering is a field where you're actually producing something, such as a product, that you can share and be proud of.