surgery

**pks** · 23-01-2005, 09:53 PM

Hi i am interested in applyin to med school and i have wanted to b a neurosurgeon since i was a little boy. I want to perform on this key part of every1s life the Brain!

I need your help is it tough to get into neurosurgery? i no im abit ahead of my self but who better to ask than young doctors and students!

Thank you very much!

**jross** · 07-04-2005, 09:02 PM

Hey PKS, surprised no one has replied to this yet!

Presumably you haven't started medicine yet and are in the process of application maybe. Neurosurgery is a fantastic and constantly developing field of medicine that does require hard work and determination on the way up.

To answer your question: it is difficult to reach the top of your profession and become a consultant, but it's like every branch of medicine.. with enthusiasm and ambition as a PRHO and even as a medical student, anything is possible. You could easily say "neurosurgery is so competitive i wont bother", but if you're ambitious... put in the work and go get that 1 position available.

First step is get your grades at school... apply for uni (backed with work experience in a local hospital)... study medicine for 5 years and if neurosurgery is your vocation, research it and keep your interest keen.

Never put barriers in your ambition - if you want it... it's yours if you put in the work!

**dingding** · 09-04-2005, 06:52 PM

^^
im kinda in the same position
applied and hold offers right now....I want to specialize in cardiology and the thing is, i don;t really know how the system works...
I know that from now theres 2 years after med skool dat we become housemans..what happens after that?...and how long does it take to become a cardiologist after that??

**Face** · 10-04-2005, 02:56 AM

Cardiology is one of the toughest medical specialties (as opposed to surgical) to get into. So lets run this down for you.... You'll have two do 5 yrs med school, then two years on the foundation course. Nobody knows what is happening after foundation year 2, everything is being changed at the moment. However, you will most likely have to do another 5 years minimum (it will most likely be more if you're going into these very competitive specialties), during which time you'll have to pass more exams specialised to your particular field. Then theres trying to find a consultant post, which will be a painstaking process too. So, all in all, if you start med school at 18, don't expect to become a top dog till your early to mid thirties.

**corskrew** · 10-04-2005, 03:10 AM

If you get on a degree course which offfers the opportunity, get a second degree, anatomy or something relevant to the speciality. That always looks good on a CV - everybody applying for the HO posts will have medical degrees but not many people have two degrees!
And if you do have your heart set on a particular aspect of medicine, get as much work experience etc as you can in the field - I was told by the principal consultant on a ward I do vol work on that one of the best ways to get ahead is make sure you direct yourself to that from the outset, eg Newcastle degree has 3 8-week blocks where you chose what to study; also a 9-11 week elective where you could, for example spend a few months in a GP surgery in Bognor, or in a large trauma hosptial like Birmingham, or spend a few months "studying beach medicine" in Australia.

**dingding** · 10-04-2005, 04:37 PM

thanks guys!
Guess i no what to expect now!

**jross** · 10-04-2005, 08:58 PM

Yeah, I've heard the same about having a second degree, BSci of some sort. An intercalacted degree is probably the most convenient and cheapest way to this after the 3 year of the medical course. In a speciality like pathology, forensic science is particularly useful. All types of surgery would benefit from an anatomy degree in addition to the standard MBChB.

**MBS** · 18-04-2005, 10:29 PM

After attaining an SpR Type 1 Post, your BSc becomes irrelevant.

BSc's r useful to let you into the SHO post that u want, wherever u want. but after doing ur Basic Specialist Training and attaining the CCBST, your BSc won't help get an NTN SpR Post (which qualifies for CCST--> which enables u to take up a Consultant Post) . What might help is getting an MBChB/MBBS (hons) <ie: being of the top ten on the med school>, thats hard work, but i know ppl who hold these certificates, and they have had no problems getting SpR jobs in the speciality they wanted. If you did hold that, then u need to do a PhD or an MD to increase ur chances at the NTN SpR post.

Ofcourse, you dont have any of these extra points, u may be still able to apply and secure a post.

Its complicated, not the mention that Medicine is completely different from Surgery. I find being a cardiologist is easier than being a surgeon, My cardiologist friend disagrees and thinks that the MRCP is harder than the MRCS.

**Karlangelo** · 04-05-2005, 04:38 AM

Hey you all, I too wish to become a neurosurgeon, I am already in med school in the caribbean. My dream though is to study in Japan, Canada, or in the UK. PKS all the best and I hope to hear of you in the future.

**Face** · 26-06-2005, 12:59 AM

Arg240, in answering your question again, I would have to say having a BSc is not going to help you in any way, other than giving you a couple of extra points in applying for a F1 post after qualifying. I think, further on than that, BSc's are pretty useless; only do one if you really want a BSc and/or enjoy the subject or if a BSc degree in one year is too good an offer to refuse (this was my standpoint when I did one in Neuroscience).