About neurosurgery

[H_Caulfield]

Can somebody explain to me why neurosurgery is so unpopular? Why only two people a year from my (good) medical school actually try to match into it?

I'm often seduced by the opinions of everyone around me, and I decide that some other surgical field would allow me to have a life outside of work, that I wouldn't get killed during residency, et cetera. So I'll decide on ENT or ortho. Then I'll realize that I'm not enough of a jock for ortho, that ENT isn't invasive enough for me, and I'll decide on going into general surgery. Now...is the neurosurgical residency significantly more brutal than the general surgery residency? Maybe slightly...but enough so that it would be justification for choosing general, if you were more interested in neuro? I doubt it. I assume that both residencies are very difficult. Once you include the subsequent fellowship which, from what I understand, has become almost necessary for a general surgeon to opt for, the training period becomes just as long as (or longer than) a neurosurgery residency. As for working thereafter, can't you go into private practice and limit your hours? I'm sure you can. I know that malpractice is a b*tch, but the gross income is so much higher for those guys that it pretty much evens out.

Just wondering why general surgeons treat me like I'm nuts when I mention neurosurgery. Either they aren't giving themselves enough credit, or they have an inflated idea of how much harder it would be to do neuro.

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[hans19]

Can somebody explain to me why neurosurgery is so unpopular? Why only two people a year from my (good) medical school actually try to match into it?

I'm often seduced by the opinions of everyone around me, and I decide that some other surgical field would allow me to have a life outside of work, that I wouldn't get killed during residency, et cetera. So I'll decide on ENT or ortho. Then I'll realize that I'm not enough of a jock for ortho, that ENT isn't invasive enough for me, and I'll decide on going into general surgery. Now...is the neurosurgical residency significantly more brutal than the general surgery residency? Maybe slightly...but enough so that it would be justification for choosing general, if you were more interested in neuro? I doubt it. I assume that both residencies are very difficult. Once you include the subsequent fellowship which, from what I understand, has become almost necessary for a general surgeon to opt for, the training period becomes just as long as (or longer than) a neurosurgery residency. As for working thereafter, can't you go into private practice and limit your hours? I'm sure you can. I know that malpractice is a b*tch, but the gross income is so much higher for those guys that it pretty much evens out.

Just wondering why general surgeons treat me like I'm nuts when I mention neurosurgery. Either they aren't giving themselves enough credit, or they have an inflated idea of how much harder it would be to do neuro.

So a field like internal medicine is beneath your station, after all?
Based on some of your previous posts (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=314120), I don't think you'd like neurosurgery either. With the number of IMGs in the field, I think it lacks the exclusivity that you seek. Too bad we weren't as hard working as you are going to be in med school.

 

[powermd]

So a field like internal medicine is beneath your station, after all?
Based on some of your previous posts (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=314120), I don't think you'd like neurosurgery either. With the number of IMGs in the field, I think it lacks the exclusivity that you seek. Too bad we weren't as hard working as you are going to be in med school.

His previous posts would be hilarious if he wasn't dead serious. He kind of reminds me of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Choosing your life's work based on the perceived competitiveness of the training program is about the most immature and unwise thing you can do. It's great we're populating our med school classes with folks like him.

 

[H_Caulfield]

Wow...thanks, guys. Really, I'll take your comments constructively and use them to become a better person.

Now...anyone want to pay some attention to what I've actually posted, without reference to some sort of preliminary background check? I'd hoped to strike up a conversation about the differences between general surgery and neurosurgery.

 

[Tired]

I'd hoped to strike up a conversation about the differences between general surgery and neurosurgery.

Okay I'll bite.

In my experience, neurosurgeons primarily operate on the nervous system, while General Surgeons do not. Clearly the "unpopularity" of neurosurgery derives from prejudice in the medical community against the nervous system. Scientists suspect this may be due to the dual meaning of the word "nervous".

 

[hans19]

Okay I'll bite.

In my experience, neurosurgeons primarily operate on the nervous system, while General Surgeons do not. Clearly the "unpopularity" of neurosurgery derives from prejudice in the medical community against the nervous system. Scientists suspect this may be due to the dual meaning of the word "nervous".

Whereas a neurosurgeon operates on the 'nervous', a general surgeon operates on generals! Talk about prestige! Clearly general surgery is superior to neurosurgery.

 

[IceMan0824]

Whereas a neurosurgeon operates on the 'nervous', a general surgeon operates on generals! Talk about prestige! Clearly general surgery is superior to neurosurgery.

Hilarious. Simply hilarious

 

[Winged Scapula]

Moving to the Neurosurgery forum...

 

[FutureNeuroStud]

Whereas a neurosurgeon operates on the 'nervous', a general surgeon operates on generals! Talk about prestige! Clearly general surgery is superior to neurosurgery.

See Michael Bliss's biography of Harvey Cushing...neurosurgeons operate on generals too.

 

[hans19]

See Michael Bliss's biography of Harvey Cushing...neurosurgeons operate on generals too.

But a general surgeon is a general first and then a surgeon!