Anesthesiology Vs. Neurosurgery

[Uncus]

Is anyone seriously considering both anesthesiology and neurosurgery? Neuroanesthesia looks interesting with nice research projects at the top academic programs plus you have the lifestyle advantage but neurosurgery keeps drawing me back. Anyone else in the same dilemma.

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[Skip Intro]

Is anyone seriously considering both anesthesiology and neurosurgery? Neuroanesthesia looks interesting with nice research projects at the top academic programs plus you have the lifestyle advantage but neurosurgery keeps drawing me back. Anyone else in the same dilemma.

Don't go into anesthesia if you think you are going to just want to do neuroanesthesia (to be around neurosurgeons, etc.). You will be very disappointed. Don't believe me? Sit in a couple of neuroanesthesia cases. If you are fascinated with neurology and neurosurgery but instead go into anesthesia residency, you'll spend most of the four years of your training wishing you were somewhere else.

No pun intended, but your decision seems to be a bit of a "no-brainer" to me (i.e., neurosurgery all the way).

-Skip

 

[GasPundit]

Don't go into anesthesia if you think you are going to just want to do neuroanesthesia (to be around neurosurgeons, etc.). You will be very disappointed. Don't believe me? Sit in a couple of neuroanesthesia cases. If you are fascinated with neurology and neurosurgery but instead go into anesthesia residency, you'll spend most of the four years of your training wishing you were somewhere else.

No pun intended, but your decision seems to be a bit of a "no-brainer" to me (i.e., neurosurgery all the way).

-Skip

I'll agree with Skip, but several caveats. I think it's possible to enjoy everything about neurosurgery except the cutting and clipping itself. Cerebral blood flow, neuromonitoring, cerebral protection, evoked potentials, all the stuff surrounding neurosurgery is pretty darn interesting. It may even have more of an effect on long-term outcome than the surgical skill itself. But it is neuroanesthesia/neurocritical care, not surgery.

 

[cchoukal]

It's a tough thing, choosing between a surgical field and anesthesiology. I interviewed in both Anesthesiology and ENT, and ultimately decided to withdraw from the ENT match. I think it's made tougher because the surgery folks don't tend to have a lot of respect for their anesthesiologist colleagues (at least not at my university), so I don't get a lot of positive reinforcement for my decision. Anyway, the 2 fields you mentioned are very different with very different priorities. The old advice is choose surgery only if you can't imagine yourself being happy doing anything else. I don't think that quite holds, because there's a lot of baggage behind "imagining yourself being happy." For what it's worth, it's a lot easier to go from neurosurgery to an anesthesia residency than vice versa. If you haven't taken multiple rotations in both, I guess I'd start there...

 

[Uncus]

Thanks for the reply. Interestingly, I posted this same question on a neurosurgery forum (www.nsmatch.com) and was told I should never post on their site again. God forbid that someone interested in neurosurgery would even consider such an "inferior" field. There are some other factors to consider in my decision. 1) I'm married with three kids, 2) Wife's family is from Bay area, CA (she desperately wants to go back) and obtaining residency (and eventually a job) there in Neurosurgery would be much more difficult than it would be in Anesh. 3) I have basic research interests (MD/PhD) and clinical demands of neurosurgery are limiting. I realize that the most important factor in making this decision is that one chooses a specialty that makes them happy for the rest of their life, but I think anyone in a similar situation would agree that above factors make the decision difficult.

 

[ncstudentdoc]

I had a struggle between anesthesia and another surgery field before choosing anesthesia so I understand. I also have seen the attitude from med students interested in ns about anesthesiology--I think its insecurity--but not from the attendings or residents. Either they don't feel that way (they are secure in their jobs) or they hide it. I can understand them not wanting you to switch out to anesthesia if they like you and I imagine they do look down on us a bit when comparing what a very competitive student should go into. Not in a bad way, but I am sure most feel a touch superior; I don't blame them: they bust their butts and have to be at the top of the heap and get paid a lot, so they should be proud. Like how I secretly feel anesthesiology is 'superior' to certain fields, meaning the quality of the bulk of the docs or what they contribute in the hospital, or some other measure. At the same time, we are 'inferior' in my mind to others that work so hard and require great dedication.

That doesn't mean I would like the job, though, and that is what took me a while to sort out. The coolest field (to me), in the end, just required too much of me and I think a personality that I don't have while anesthesia was a job that I loved doing, etc., etc.

Go with what you want to do, as silly as it sounds.

Thanks for the reply. Interestingly, I posted this same question on a neurosurgery forum (www.nsmatch.com) and was told I should never post on their site again. God forbid that someone interested in neurosurgery would even consider such an "inferior" field. There are some other factors to consider in my decision. 1) I'm married with three kids, 2) Wife's family is from Bay area, CA (she desperately wants to go back) and obtaining residency (and eventually a job) there in Neurosurgery would be much more difficult than it would be in Anesh. 3) I have basic research interests (MD/PhD) and clinical demands of neurosurgery are limiting. I realize that the most important factor in making this decision is that one chooses a specialty that makes them happy for the rest of their life, but I think anyone in a similar situation would agree that above factors make the decision difficult.

 

[Skip Intro]

For what it's worth, it's a lot easier to go from neurosurgery to an anesthesia residency than vice versa.

You know, this is actually an excellent point. Maybe the best point on this entire thread.

-Skip

 

[Uncus]

I agree

You know, this is actually an excellent point. Maybe the best point on this entire thread.

-Skip