Lifestyles of neurosurgery vs. trauma surgery

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Anyone recently completed rotations in both? Obviously neither is for the fainthearted, but is one significantly worse in terms of hours and/or general lifestyle? If so, why?

Both are about as bad as it gets.

I guess with trauma surgeons you can get by doing less shifts or icu months

Neurosurgeons can get by doing mainly outpatient procedures

But both of these options are rare and probably only possible in the end of your career

Go over to the neurosurgery forums, there's a newly minted private practice attending answering questions. In the thread, he describes his 60-70 hrs/wk schedule as a "great lifestyle" and "family friendly." So think about that, the lifestyle is so bad in neurosurg that 70 hr/wk is considered "family friendly" and constitutes a real gem of a private practice setup.

nm

Originally Posted by epsilonprodigy

Anyone recently completed rotations in both? Obviously neither is for the fainthearted, but is one significantly worse in terms of hours and/or general lifestyle? If so, why?

I immediately thought of this

Less OR time in trauma surgery. Neurosurg procedures take forever. Depends on your interests, but trauma surgery would be my choice. Your work is more like ER shift work.

Originally Posted by epsilonprodigy

Anyone recently completed rotations in both? Obviously neither is for the fainthearted, but is one significantly worse in terms of hours and/or general lifestyle? If so, why?

I did NSGY and Trauma back to back in third year. They are completely different in almost every aspect. Its a bit late so I'll just hit the things that jump out at me right now.

#1 OR time - Trauma surgeons do very little operating. Most spend the largest portion of their time doing CC in the ICU. Most have a shift like schedule for covering call and the ICU. Not every neuro surgeon lives in the OR, but a fair number do.

#2 Continuity of care - NSGY patients are followed for a long time and by a particular surgeon. Trauma you are unlikely to see your patients again and even in the hospital, unless you actually operated on them (small fraction of patients) you most likely won't follow their care closely.

Hi, I'm actually the attending neurosurgeon from the other forums taking questions. Stumbled upon this thread and just though that I should add... Almost every surgical specialty is not considered a lifestyle specialty. As a surgeon, you typically won't have a 9-5 job and work 40 hours a week, as you may find in say dermatology.

Earlier it was commented that my situation working 60-70 hours was a gem of private practice situations, but this is slightly misleading (on my part as well). This is a gem for me personally. My wife does not work, so I am able to work 11-12 hours a day with 1-2 nights of call a week. I typically get the entire weekend to spend with my family and 5-6 hours every week day. For me, this is a great balance between career satisfaction, financial gain, and family time. Everyone is different though. I personally know exclusively-spine surgeons that work 40-50 hours per week and only 4 days a week. I am content with my work load, but it's because I love my job.

Too long, didn't read: In medicine you can generally prioritize and make time for the things that matter to you. It may mean sacrificing pay or upward job mobility, but it is doable. Do what you love and the hours won't matter. "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life"