Hey guys, my name's Erxci and I'm currently doing my GCSEs here in England. I'm very interested in neurology and I hope to someday go into the field myself and I'd love to become a neurosurgeon. I'm looking for anybody that has information that can help me concerning what I would need to do to become a neurosurgeon, such as if I need to go to university, what courses to do, if I'd need to go to a special school and so on. I'm specifically looking for someone experienced but all comments are appreciated. Thank you guys!
Welcome! First thing to note, neurology is an entirely different specialty from neurosurgery. They are two different career paths and one does not lead to the other. So it might interest you to seek the neurosurgery forums.
I don't know how the education system works in england, but I can give you a really basic overview of what you have to do in America.
After high school, you MUST go to university and earn your Bachelors at a reputable instituion (community colleges and such will not do). There are a variety of courses that are required: General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Biochemistry, Lab courses, maths/english/etc. From then, you must build an application that requires a good MCAT score, a very good GPA, good letter of recommendations from other doctors/professors with doctorates, research, hospital voluteering, doctor shadowing, extracurriculars, and a good personal statement. Then you will get some interviews and maybe an acceptance.
Then medical school begins, it'll be 4 years. Most programs have didactics in the first two years and then you have your national STEP 1 examination. Clinicals are in the 3rd year then you have your national STEP 2 examinations. Then you send your applications for your chosen residency in your 4th year which includes your class rank, scores, STEP scores, letters of recommendation, and personal statement. You'll spend 4th year doing more advanced rotations and interviewing for residency programs. You will then find out where you are going for the next half decade.
After medical school, you will have one "preliminary year" where you do a year of medicine prior to entering your specialty.
After your preliminary year, you will do an additional 3 years of residency for neurology, or 6 years for neurosurgery.
After residency, most people in neurology/neurosurg choose to do fellowships. So that will be an additional 1-3 years.
Then you will finish your training and practice anywhere you like as an attending, and start paying off your student loans.
So, After university, it will be 8-11 years of training for neurology or 11-14 years of training for neurosurgery.
