I apologize in advance for this rather long post. But I need some advice from the wise folks on this forum.
I am a non-traditional student in that I will start medical school at age 30 after working for 5 years in the technology industry. While I realize that interests change as students go through their medical rotations, I am really fascinated with the human brain and Neurosurgery and it actually is the big reason why I am deciding to leave my (well paying) career for medicine.
However, un-wavered by the fact that this will likely not make financial sense due to the lost income over pretty long time period, esp. since I already have a well-paying job that I will be kicking away, my biggest deterrent with this idea is my age. I will be 34 years old when I start my residency and while I am really excited about Neurosurgery -- particularly cerebrovascular and tumor stuffs -- and feel really healthy today with almost infinite energy, I am not sure whether I will be too old for this profession when I actually start practicing. I will be around 42 by the time I am done with my fellowship, and I am not sure how many productive years I can expect for myself thereafter.
Any ideas as to the typical age a Neurosurgeon (even a surgeon for that matter) retires at? Is it due to some sort of physical/mental incapacity that neurosurgeons usually retire? Also, what is the oldest age you have observed among Neurosurgery residents? And how frequent are such encounters?
BTW, a related question, any guesses as to how the field will evolve over the next 20 years? Will it be mostly robotics based such that a neurosurgeon will do operations with fewer physical demands (stamina, dexterity, etc), and hence maybe surgeons will continue operating until much later in their lives than today?
Again, my apologies for this rather long post and I understand these questions are quite subjective, but it will nonetheless be very helpful. Any and all responses are appreciated. It would be particularly useful if some of the practicing (attending) neurosurgeons can share their experiences.
Thanks a lot.
I am a non-traditional student in that I will start medical school at age 30 after working for 5 years in the technology industry. While I realize that interests change as students go through their medical rotations, I am really fascinated with the human brain and Neurosurgery and it actually is the big reason why I am deciding to leave my (well paying) career for medicine.
However, un-wavered by the fact that this will likely not make financial sense due to the lost income over pretty long time period, esp. since I already have a well-paying job that I will be kicking away, my biggest deterrent with this idea is my age. I will be 34 years old when I start my residency and while I am really excited about Neurosurgery -- particularly cerebrovascular and tumor stuffs -- and feel really healthy today with almost infinite energy, I am not sure whether I will be too old for this profession when I actually start practicing. I will be around 42 by the time I am done with my fellowship, and I am not sure how many productive years I can expect for myself thereafter.
Any ideas as to the typical age a Neurosurgeon (even a surgeon for that matter) retires at? Is it due to some sort of physical/mental incapacity that neurosurgeons usually retire? Also, what is the oldest age you have observed among Neurosurgery residents? And how frequent are such encounters?
BTW, a related question, any guesses as to how the field will evolve over the next 20 years? Will it be mostly robotics based such that a neurosurgeon will do operations with fewer physical demands (stamina, dexterity, etc), and hence maybe surgeons will continue operating until much later in their lives than today?
Again, my apologies for this rather long post and I understand these questions are quite subjective, but it will nonetheless be very helpful. Any and all responses are appreciated. It would be particularly useful if some of the practicing (attending) neurosurgeons can share their experiences.
Thanks a lot.