First: not all surgeons start at 5; it varies somewhat with the specialty. The more "hard-core" specialties tend to start earlier in the morning because the ca

First: not all surgeons start at 5; it varies somewhat with the specialty. The more "hard-core" specialties tend to start earlier in the morning because the cases can run longer (12-16 hour surgeries, while not typical, are not unheard of either). Second, they don't start operating at 5. They actually couldn't--the non-M.D. staff (nurses and techs) work on "normal" shifts, so there's only a minimal overnight crew (present to handle emergencies that cannot wait until morning) at that time. Surgeries actually start around 7:30-8:00 typically, but the team needs to round on the patients under their care and discuss what's slated for the day before they go into the OR. Since that takes a couple hours, they start at 5.