How Do You get a PhD AND go into Neurosurgery?

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According to match statistics, about 19% of people going into neurosurgery had a PhD. That's about minimum 20 years after high school before becoming fully licensed.

My question is, how do they do it? How can you have that much emotional stamina? Has anyone ever met one of these unicorns? How do they feel about their decision to take this kind of a career path?

 

[PA_dud3]

You would have had to have gotten it prior to med school, yes? Maybe MD/PhD is what is bunping the numbers up so? No way I could do something like that.

 

[sadpremed121]

A lot of md phd. Neuro is a really research heavy specialty I hear so it helps to have a phd

 

[differentiating]

I’ve seen both ways - MD/PhD going into Nsurg as well as PhD from before med school. The latter hasn’t actually applied yet - on a gap year to get even more research.

 

[Lucca]

A pretty significant chunk of our NSG dept here is made up of MD/PhDs and that’s probably not too uncommon for academic places. If you love research and you love brain surgery then you will probably have a great time. But you won’t have much time for all that much else and you will make a lot of compromises. But then again so will all surgeons, all physicians, all scientists to varying extents.

Also I don’t think you stop using your emotional stamina just because you technically finished your formal schooling. In medicine in fact you might need more the farther you go in your career

 

[DrStephenStrange]

The answer is MD/PhD and DO/PhD programs.