In medicine, a surgeon is a person who performs surgery. Surgeons are  Physicians as well. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such to remove a diseased organ or to repair a tear or breakage. Surgeons may be medical doctors, dentists, podiatrists or veterinarians. In earlier times there were also people trained solely in removing bladder stones, but at the present day specialised practitioners would have first been trained in one of the professions already mentioned. Minimally invasive procedures such as the procedures of interventional radiology are sometimes described as "minimally invasive surgery." The field traditionally described as interventional neuroradiology, for instance, is increasingly called neurointerventional surgery. Robotic surgery is an area of growing interest. Surgical specialties and allied fields Cardiothoracic surgery Colon and Rectal surgery Dental surgery Oral and maxillofacial surgery Dermatologic surgery Hand surgery General surgery Breast surgery Endocrine surgery Upper gastrointestinal surgery Hepatopancreatobiliary surgery Lower gastrointestinal surgery Transplant surgery Vascular surgery Maxillofacial surgery Neurological surgery Obstetrics and gynaecology Orthopaedic surgery Ophthalmology Otolaryngology Paediatric surgery Plastic surgery Podiatry Surgical oncology Trauma surgery Urology Some medical doctors, Physicians who are general practitioners or specialists in family medicine or emergency medicine may perform limited ranges of minor, common, or emergency surgery. Anesthesia often accompanies surgery, and anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists may oversee this aspect of surgery. First assistants, surgical nurses, surgical technologists and operating department practitioners are trained professionals who support surgeons.