People are hesitating to respond for a reason…be prepared for comments like, "then you're not really cut out for this HARDCORE field if you're having second thoughts—you have to be 100% into it or do something else." I don't necessarily endorse that statement, but I do think that it's a good idea to REALLY examine your choice of specialty, no matter what it is. Most of the people in my med school class who were gung-ho neurosurgery changed their minds when they did their clinical rotations, and there is nothing wrong with that! If you really think you'd be miserable doing neurosurgery, be true to yourself and do something that you would enjoy. Neurosurgery tends to attract more of the workaholic, obsessive personality types (ala Cushing), which is what helped shape the specialty into what it is, but I've seen my fair share of internists and other specialists who work far more hours and see their families far less than some neurosurgery attendings I know, but it's the balance that they chose for themselves.
Have you done a neurosurgery rotation yet? I did as many clinical rotations in neurosurgery as I could to get the most varied and realistic picture of the specialty, and it does differ greatly depending on many factors--academic vs. private practice, where you decide to practice, what niche in neurosurgery that you choose and whether it is high or low demand where you're at, what kind of practice that you join, as well as factors such as income...
I am in my surgery rotation as an M3 and every time someone asks me what I'm going into and I say neurosurgery, everyone tries to convince me to not go into it. They all keep saying how horrible of a work load it is etc.
I got this too, but interestingly not from neurosurgeons or from pediatric general surgeons (similar workloads at my center). From plastic surgeons and ENTs, yes—I even had a dermatologist I randomly met at a party who took it upon herself to "help" me by trying to convince me that I should do derm instead (mostly since I'm a girl
🙄), but the neurosurgery residents who overheard her tirade defended my decision against her with me having to say very little!
Take what I say with a grain of salt since I'm only about to start PGY-1 (and I may be back on the forums later to bitch about my decision, never mind that it's been my dream for ages), but during third year I had a pretty good idea that I can survive residency, but what about AFTER that, when work hour restrictions no longer apply? I asked an attending at a private practice hospital who was called in from home to do a 3 AM trauma craniotomy (a landmark in my third year of medical school since he talked me through the procedure and was assisting ME!), how he felt about his decision now. He said that he had no regrets since the practice he joined permitted a lot of time for his kids, his hobbies, and he was able to take home call without getting burnt out on neurosurgery. Of course, he specialized in trauma neurosurgery and does pretty much just that, so he's got a much less predictable lifestyle than most, which seems to suit him just fine.
Oh, yeah…*whispers* There are also headhunters out there after you finish residency who help find you the kind of job that you want.
