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Becoming a Neurosurgeon

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A neurosurgeon, or brain surgeon, specializes in operating on the brain, neck, and spine. In this competitive field, neurosurgeons are some of the highest-paid surgeons. Brain surgery is extremely complicated and risky, and surgeons need to be skilled and knowledgeable to be successful.

Becoming Neurosurgeon

To become a neurosurgeon, they need to fulfill the basic requirements needed to become a physician. A bachelor’s degree in pre-med, biology, physics, or chemistry is required with an extra four years of grad school. Their graduate degree needs to be at an accredited medical school to receive an M.D. or a D.O. degree.

Completing the Program

Once a person finishes medical school and receives a medical degree, they need to get accepted into a neurosurgery residency training program. This can be difficult since there are only 99 accredited neurosurgery residency training programs in the nation. A residency program can take six to eight years to complete depending on the application. Since the training is so long, the form may only take in one to three residents per year. Becoming a neurological surgeon is a long process and takes many years to complete. Most of the people that become neurosurgeons are some of the best and brightest students attracted to the challenging and dynamic field of neurosurgery.

Healing Hands

A neurosurgeon will operate on people who have suffered from head trauma. They also treat and work on people who are suffering from brain tumors. Besides trauma and brain tumors, several other problems are addressed by neurosurgeons. With the help of advancements in techniques and equipment, doctors can operate on many different issues that ail their patients.

Pursuing a Career as a Neurosurgeon

Those who are interested in becoming a neurosurgeon need to be able to survive and thrive in a competitive, high-pressure environment. They need to be available at all hours during their call rotation schedule. Surgeons must be able to think critically and obtain surgical skills to perform complicated and delicate surgeries. Top of the line mechanical devices and imaging equipment allows surgeons to be confident during the most challenging and complex operations. Neurosurgeons need to be calm and level-headed to be able to handle pressure and stressful situations. Even though this field is challenging, it also has quite a bit of reward by providing life-saving operations on people facing severe health problems.