Just a curiousity question....I have always imagined the specialty as demanding extraordinary innate manual dexterity and was wondering to what extent this was true vs. either technology or the somewhat different kind of technicians expertise that is acquired from sheer practice.

There is a surprising amount of manual dexterity required. Especially for skull base and and vascular procedures. When I was interviewing I was asked several times how I was with my hands. Keep in mind however that many programs have labs where you can practice and hone some of your microsurgical techniques if you're not the most dextrous person in the world.


Of course there are also areas of neurosurgery (ie functional nad endovascular) where less dexterity is required, but as a resident you'll gain exposure to everything.