operating surgeon vs physician

operating surgeon and physician both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
operating surgeon	Yes	No	No	No
physician	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, physician is a hypernym of operating surgeon; that is, physician is a word with a broader meaning than operating surgeon:

Other hypernyms of operating surgeon include doc, doctor, Dr., MD, medico.

operating surgeon (noun)	physician (noun)
a physician who specializes in surgery	a licensed medical practitioner