SPINE: Neuro vs Ortho

[c5212]

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What is the difference between a neurosurgeon who operates on the spine and an orthopedic surgeon who operates on the spine? Difference in hours, pay, residency length?

 

[c5212]

bump... i'd really appreciate some input on this please

 

[basupran]

NS can go intradural as far as I know. Ortho has to go through a fellowship while spine is integrated into the NS residency. As far as pay goes, don't think there is much of a difference. I've heard that NS that do only spine are seen as 'lower' than regular NS vs. ortho spine which is held at a higher level vs. general ortho.


If you search on google, you can get some more info. Best of luck and I suggest that you choose the residency that fits you better.

 

[ddmo]

bump... i'd really appreciate some input on this please

This has been discussed many times, try doing a search.

Briefly,

Neurosurgeons: ~7 year residency, maybe a 1 yr spine fellowship
Ortho: 5 year residency + 1 year fellowship

Pay, lifestyle, etc. are more predicated on how busy the surgeon is than what their background is. Some hospitals spine teams are predominately neuro and some ortho.

From my experience ortho does more of the complex reconstructive stuff like scoliosis surgery requiring lots of hardware, but even that isn't always true.

Regardless, I would want someone to do my spine surgery who does a lot of spine surgery. I don't care if they are neuro or ortho. However, I have seen problems with neurosurgeons who spend most of their time doing cranial work and sometimes get over their heads when they try and do the occasional spine case.

 

[Winged Scapula]

bump... i'd really appreciate some input on this please

You might notice that you posted the thread in the General Surgery forum rather than Nsgy or Ortho, hence the lack of responses.

In addition, as others have noted, its been asked a thousand times before, so there are tons of threads with answers.

Surgical residents are busy and don't always have the time to answer questions as rapidly as you might be used to in the Pre-Med forums. Please be patient.