neurosurgery res. advice for making it?!

[euv3x]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I will be a first year medical student in Aug. and am interested in neurosurgery and need advice. What is the best way beyond grades and board scores to be competitive for this program? I am a woman and have seen the low numbers of women out there in this specialty- does anyone know any women that have made it, and how they are managing in the OR and with family life, etc?

Thanks so much for your advice!

 

[oldandtired]

Since you have mentioned family life and neurosurgery in the same paragraph, you are not well suited for this field.

The neurosurgery residents at my hospital are some of the grumpiest, unhappy people possible. There is no time for family. Better to avoid this field. Leave it for the hardcore people who do not care about any life.

And I would bet my bank account that as a women starting your first year, you will change your mind before its over. Dont think Neurosurgery is all about saving young lives. If you have ever seen any of their patients you will know what I mean. You will know what I mean by the time you graduate.

 

[Celiac Plexus]

Originally posted by oldandtired
Since you have mentioned family life and neurosurgery in the same paragraph, you are not well suited for this field.

The neurosurgery residents at my hospital are some of the grumpiest, unhappy people possible. There is no time for family. Better to avoid this field. Leave it for the hardcore people who do not care about any life.

And I would bet my bank account that as a women starting your first year, you will change your mind before its over. Dont think Neurosurgery is all about saving young lives. If you have ever seen any of their patients you will know what I mean. You will know what I mean by the time you graduate.

euv3x,

I think that you were asking for ways to prepare for the neurosurg match. I advise getting involved with your neurosurg club if you have one, and getting together with your neurosurg dept right away to get hooked up with some good research where you will be able to publish/present. Research and recommendations are pretty dang important.

As for "oldmantired"... Ignore him. You will occasionally meet people like him who will try to discourage you.

By the way, I know a woman who matched this year in neurosurg and she is incredible: smart, funny, athletic, beautiful, and well-liked. I am happy for her, for the field of neurosurgery, and for her future patients.

 

[apma77]

Dont forget to turn in your ovaries to the program director before you start, cause ya aint gonna be producing any babies or sex hormones during residency my dear!

 

[Skylizard]

Originally posted by apma77
Dont forget to turn in your ovaries to the program director before you start, cause ya aint gonna be producing any babies or sex hormones during residency my dear!

If nothing else apma77, you are consistent😉
Should she get a claim ticket to ensure she picks up the right set of gonads at graduation? As for family and the "nooky", I knew a NS intern and she got more then her share during residency. I also knew a NS senior who had a wife, kids, and time for an affair to boot!!! That is probably not what you are asking or wanting to hear.

However, the point is you can have alot of fun in and out of residency but the actual list of activities you participate in will have to be cut down. You need to think of it in terms of hours. For instance, I like gymn/exercise, wife time, outdoors time, and reading is always required. Well, "awake" wife time will in general be in the range of a one maybe two hours per day at best. Long weekends off can buffer this. Gymn/exercise will be one...maybe two hours a day hopefully three or more times a week. Reading will have to be 1-2 hours a day (sometimes at the hospital while on call). Outdoors will likely have to be limited to vacations. If I wanted to go the "male dog route", I could follow the path of a hospital affair in the call room and subtract that from my home time with my wife. In general you will have to cut the list of activities and alocate specific time to them to keep organized and still maintain performance in residency.

 

[gosh]

I am a female who was interested in neurosurgery. I was a medical student at the University of Chicago and my experience after a rotation in the department and talking to several residents changes my mind. You may not have to give your ovaries to your program director usually, but at the University of Chicago, you absolutely do. I can't believe how abrasive the neurosurgery attendings are! Recently, the medical students interviewed a number of attendings in different departments at the hospital about the 80 hrs/wk rule and how it would affect the departments. The only attendings that were against the 80 hour work week were those in neurosurgery and general surgery! They vehemently stated that to work 120 hrs/wk is a great sense of satisfaction and that's how residencies ought to be. MY belief is that not all programs are like this, and many may even try to get close to 80hr/wk, but it seems as is the U OF C department is out to fight the rule to the very end. Residents and some attendings say that the rule will never take effect, not until the program is closed down. And, actually, the department is on probation by the RRC and the rumor around the hospital is that it will be one of the first to suffer the heat of the RRC. Some of the senior residents are hoping they can graduate before, and one very senior resident I know of spoke to several other neurosurg programs trying to transfer out before things get smelly!

 

[duramaterdoc]

HI,

I am a woman. I matched in NS. The rest of these people neither sound like they're women nor sound like they have any clue about neurosurgery.

PM me and we'll talk.

Originally posted by euv3x
I will be a first year medical student in Aug. and am interested in neurosurgery and need advice. What is the best way beyond grades and board scores to be competitive for this program? I am a woman and have seen the low numbers of women out there in this specialty- does anyone know any women that have made it, and how they are managing in the OR and with family life, etc?

Thanks so much for your advice!

 

[Skylizard]

I will just restate a portion of my original reply

Originally posted by SomeOne
...the point is you can have alot of fun in and out of residency but the actual list of activities you participate in will have to be cut down. You need to think of it in terms of hours. For instance, I like gymn/exercise, wife time, outdoors time, and reading is always required. Well, "awake/quality" wife time will in general be in the range of a one maybe two hours per day at best. Long weekends off can buffer this. Gymn/exercise will be one...maybe two hours a day hopefully three or more times a week. Reading will have to be 1-2 hours a day (sometimes at the hospital while on call). Outdoors will likely have to be limited to vacations...

The key to a life and residency is as always a matter of setting priorities. You will make sacrifices and hold on to those things that you have high on your list of priorities. This goes for Gsurge, Ortho, Neurosurge, etc...
The more intense the program the shorter your list of extra curricular activities. That is the nature of life from High school to career and everything in between.

 

[bigdan]

OP-
I am not female nor in NS residency. But you did ask about females in neurosurgery. I read a great (yet sadly, kinda unfortunate) book about a neurosurgeon from Stanford and her experiences in her career in the field. I believe her name in Frances Conolly (maybe, maybe not) but the book's title is Walking Out on the Boys.
And good luck...
DC

 

[Foxxy Cleopatra]

apma77, that is classic!! So are you telling me that my PD is going to steal my mojo when I get there? To the OP- if you find that you remain interested in neurosurgery after 3rd year, go for it! There are tons of nice and normal women that aspire to do surgery despite the resistance out there. And dare I say it, despite the archaic assumption that all women want only to get married and have kids. Good luck!

 

[lipoyl]

I think the 80-hour week has increased the number of female n-surg. applicants. I met a number of them on the trail this year, and for the most part they matched very well.

As far as increasing your chances of matching, grades and board scores are obviously key.

I would also suggest getting involved with your school's neurosurgery department early (like as a first year). Do some basic science research, try and get your name on as many clinical and basic papers as possible. Plenty of students go to the AANS and CNS meetings each year,l and if you are involved, your department may even pay for you.

As a third year, introduce yourself to your department's chairman, and do a neurosurgery sub-i at your home school. During your away electives, work hard and show that you are normal, in addition to smart. During your sub-i's/electives make sure you give a talk on your research. Finally, prior to the match have your program director and mentor make phone calls to the programs you are interested in.