I've been to an orthopedic surgeon twice for different issues, and both times he recommended PT and not surgery. It was the same guy both times, though, so maybe he's just unusual.

It might help that he specializes in "sports medicine" - so he might often see people who are otherwise very fit and are very sensitive to minor physical issues that other people might not even notice. Just a conjecture.

Actually, now that I think about it, I also went to a different orthopedic surgeon a very long time ago about RSI. He didn't even send me to PT, just gave me the correct diagnosis and the right exercises for it (I had already been through some ineffective PT).