Rural Neurosurgery Opportunities?

[dxcrunner]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Are their opportunities to practice neurosurgery in a more rural/under-served setting? If so how small of a town would you be able to work in?

 

[SN12357]

Rural hospitals that serve large geographic areas can sometimes be absolutely desperate for a neurosurgeon (they can usually only support a single one). I don't know enough about the field to say much more about the economics and how easy those jobs are to find overall, but I do know of neurosurgeons who practice in decidedly rural areas. I don't think you have to worry about it, but do keep that open mind. Neurosurgery is a hell of a commitment.

 

[The Buff OP]

Are their opportunities to practice neurosurgery in a more rural/under-served setting? If so how small of a town would you be able to work in?

I am passionate about neurosurgery (but have a very open mind toward other specialties) and am very interested in applying to Southern Illinois University. However, they tend to focus on rural healthcare, and to me a neurosurgeon is far from "rural."

Dude, if you want to work for a rural area you will have tons of people throwing money at you to come to their town. lol

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/30/dr-zenko-hrynkiw-6-miles-brain-surgery_n_4697195.html
It looks like some places do need more neurosurgeons.

Edit: I don't think this would happen in a big city.

 

[Law2Doc]

Dude, if you want to work for a rural area you will have tons of people throwing money at you to come to their town. lol

It will be like 10-15 years before a premed finishes up his training in neurosurgery and starts to look for a job so it's sort of impossible to predict that there will be any sort of demand by then, what the field of neurosurgery might look like, or even what will still be an underserved rural area...

 

[Catalystik]

Are their opportunities to practice neurosurgery in a more rural/under-served setting? If so how small of a town would you be able to work in?

I am passionate about neurosurgery (but have a very open mind toward other specialties) and am very interested in applying to Southern Illinois University. However, they tend to focus on rural healthcare, and to me a neurosurgeon is far from "rural."

I didn't find the 2014 figures, but last year an SIU grad matched into Neurosurgery. http://www.siumed.edu/studentaffairs/admissions/nrmpresults.html

NRMP Match Results March 15, 2013 Results of the National
Resident Matching Program were announced on March 15, 2013.
Sixty-eight senior students at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine have secured residency positions and will begin training
July 1, 2013.

• Nine students (13%) will begin residency training in Fam-
  ily Medicine programs, eight (12%) in Internal Medicine, and
  eight (12%) in Pediatrics. Six students (9%) matched in Radiology, five (7%) in Surgery-Preliminary, four (6%) in Emergency Medicine, four (6%) in Medicine-Pediatrics and three each (4%) in General Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology and Orthopaedic Surgery. Two students each (3%) will train in Anesthesiology, Otolaryngology and Plastic Surgery. Internal Medicine/Primary Care, Neurological Surgery, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Pathology, Psychiatry, Radiation Oncology, Urology and Vascular Surgery attracted one (1%) student each.
• Thirty students (44%) will begin training in Primary Care
  specialties. If Obstetrics-Gynecology matches (three students)
  were included in that figure, it would rise to 49%.
• Sixteen students (24%) will begin their residency training in
  SIU Programs. An additional twelve students (18%) will be
  training in other programs located in Illinois and twenty-six others
  (38%) elsewhere in the Midwest. A total of fifty-four students (79%) will begin their residency training in the Midwest.