Feasibility of having a research-oriented career as a neurosurgeon

[MilesDavisTheDoctor]

Hey everybody!

I was wondering if there were any attendings or residents who could offer their opinion on how possible it is to have a career as neurosurgeon actively involved in clinical, translational, or basic-science neuroscience research. I have heard that most neurosurgeons go into private practice and focus on spine after training. I have also heard from residents that the trend right now is for surgeons to become less and less involved with research and take on more clinical responsibilities to be more profitable to their hospitals. Sorry if this has been answered in the past or if my question isn't clear enough- I could try to ask something more specific if that's helpful. Thanks!!!

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[chord]

You will have your question answered for if you if you look up pretty much any academic neurosurgeon and then look at a list of their recent publications.

You are correct that in neurosurgery, like in every other specialty, the majority of graduates will go into private practice. Private practice is usually mostly spine with some tumor and trauma, but you'll find there are an increasing number of endovascular private jobs as well. However, neurosurgery is a highly academic field and many graduates, especially those coming out of highly academic programs, will remain in academia. The majority of these will be actively involved in research in some way or another. Neurosurgery is a prolific field in terms of research and pretty much all neurosurgery research is done by neurosurgeons. Neurosurgeons also do non-specifically neurosurgical research as well, or research that spans multiple disciplines. It is not uncommon to find several neurosurgeons at any major academic center with their own labs, and there are certainly plenty of neurosurgeons with RO1s. Other neurosurgeons participate in more clinical research or will work with neurologists, pathologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, intensivists, or PhDs on collaborative multidisciplinary research. You'll have a better chance of landing an academic career coming from a heavily academic program, but not all graduates from these programs go into academics and not all academic surgeons come from highly academic residencies (though most likely do).