It took Alvin Pun (TCFS 1993) a long time to work out what he wanted to do with his life, and even longer to decide which stream of medicine he wanted to follow, having assumed that once he graduated from med school he would just be a ‘doctor’. But eventually he worked it out, as most students do, and is now a leading spine surgeon. Here he gives insight into his career choice, why seeing a surgeon costs so much, and why the life of a surgeon isn’t as glamorous as you may think.