Pediatric Nuerosurgery

[anonymousNSres]

I can’t seem to find much information on pediatric NS. I am under the impression that it pays less, that there is huge demand, spots are unfilled, and one does many shunts. Is this correct. Is a fellowship pretty much guaranteed, due to the shortage. Does it entail a longer or shorter work week and level of lifestyle quality than adult NS. Out of curiosity, do you perceive it to be a rewarding field, i.e. happy parents, etc, or not. Thanks in advance.

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[kitsunepixie]

I am under the impression that it pays less, that there is huge demand, spots are unfilled, and one does many shunts.

Yes. The pediatric neurosurgeons I know work harder than most other neurosurgeons, are constantly on call, and do get paid less. You get some happy/grateful parents, but your daily life will also be spent with parents who are experiencing their worst nightmare...and it's especially heart-wrenching when innocent children die. You have to have an especially resilient personality type to go into this field. You should shadow a pediatric neurosurgeon to get a taste. You can probably find some more info on www.uncleharvey.com.

 

[anonymousNSres]

Thank you

 

[phantomx87]

I am currently working with two peds NS and I can definitely agree with Kitsunepixie. They're on a q2 call schedule (as attendings no less... one of their partners left). We see a lot of shaken baby syndrome (really sad especially when they bounce back 2 weeks later for the same reason). There are a LOT of shunts and (at least in our shop) not a ton of trauma.

The saves are great, but you also get cases like a 22 month old kid with a nasty medulloblastoma and sugar coating of his spine. Definitely need a strong stomach for talking to the parents. All in all, though, it's definitely a great field. If you get a chance, well worth a hard look.

 

[Iapyx]

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[anonymousNSres]

I am currently working with two peds NS and I can definitely agree with Kitsunepixie. They're on a q2 call schedule (as attendings no less... one of their partners left). We see a lot of shaken baby syndrome (really sad especially when they bounce back 2 weeks later for the same reason). There are a LOT of shunts and (at least in our shop) not a ton of trauma.

The saves are great, but you also get cases like a 22 month old kid with a nasty medulloblastoma and sugar coating of his spine. Definitely need a strong stomach for talking to the parents. All in all, though, it's definitely a great field. If you get a chance, well worth a hard look.

Is Q2 the norm? I really enjoy peds and NS, but Q2 as an attending seems rough. Thanks for the reply

 

[phantomx87]

Depends on the practice. AFAIK, most peds attendings in academics won't be taking Q2 call bc they'll have some sort of backup (either more dedicated peds NS or faculty cross-covering). If you're PP or quasi-PP like my guys, it really comes down to how big the practice is. In their case, it's only two of them. In all fairness, their call has been a lot less stressful than adult call at my school. When I'm on call with the adult team, I can expect to be there all night working my tail off. The peds guys here may get a bunch of calls, but most can be taken care of quickly. Most OR cases can be put off until the morning (except for the biggies... thank God kids are resilient).

Again, most of the stuff we see are 500 gram hoagies in need of shunts, craniofacial stuff (synostosis cases are joint with plastics), complex spine (scoliosis and others), and tumors (most of which are embryonal, so tough to deal with).