Advice on switching from Neurology to Neurosurgery

[yinandyang]

Hi

I am a PGY2 Neurology resident at a large university hospital, female. I went into Neurology thinking I wanted to do a cognitive fellowship. I have been generally happy in my Neurology residency and doing well but I find myself attracted to procedures and to Neurosurgery more and more. I love working with my hands and I am fascinated by neurosurgical techniques, particularly vascular. I might have made the wrong decision pursuing a Neurology residency and I am currently considering applying to Neurosurgery. If I don't apply to Neurosurgery, I will pursue a stroke fellowship followed by a NES fellowship. However, I am worried that it will not be enough for me and that I will regret not being able to be in the OR.

My reservations are time (I would not be able to apply before 2020 or 2021) and to a lesser extent the hectic lifestyle of a neurosurgery resident after completing a full (also stressful) Neurology residency.

I know a Neurologist pursuing NES is a touchy subject but I am looking for guidance in this process. I am posting here because I haven't had the courage to bring it up to my mentors yet and I want to be sure before I do so. Any thoughts?

Thank you

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Well first things first what are your stats. It's hard to jump into neurosurgery because of the competitiveness so very few people do it. Typically you are best off if you have a program willing to take you but for you it will be hard because you will need to start at the pgy1 level.

 

[SurgeDO]

If you’re truly interested in vascular, just complete a endovascular fellowship. By the time you are done, we won’t be clipping anything outside of basic MCA aneurysms, and even those we are starting to coil.