What is Neurosurgery and What Does it Take to Become One?

Neurosurgery is a subspecialty of surgery with focus on diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system. This includes pathologies in the brain as well as the spine and peripheral nerves. Some of the most common diseases addressed by neurosurgeons are brain and spinal tumors, brain aneurysms, seizure disorder, Parkinson's disease, brain and spine trauma, degenerative spine disease, spinal deformity and scoliosis, as well as chronic pain syndrome. To become a neurosurgeon one needs to attend 4 years of college and obtain an undergraduate degree, take the entrance exam to the medical school (MCAT), demonstrate interest in the field of medicine through a variety of extracurricular activities such as research, volunteer work, shadowing, etc, and finally apply and gain admission to a US accredited medical school. Following 4 years of medical school, one needs to then apply to the neurosurgery residency, which is a 7 year training. During the residency, the trainee is exposed a wide breadth of neurosurgical diseases mentioned above and depending on further interest, they can spend a year focusing on a subspecialty of neurosurgery such as complex spine, vascular and endovascular neurosurgery, Neuro-oncology, pediatric neurosurgery as well as functional neurosurgery. In summary, a neurosurgeon undergoes 15 or more years of preparation and training following high school to become a board-eligible neurosurgeon. While this sounds like a life-time of training, it is deemed necessary to prepare one who deals with life and death matters quite frequently and their decisions and surgical technique draw a line between taking leg pain away vs causing permanent neurologic injury. The field of neurosurgery is quite rewarding as the impacts on peoples lives are quite meaningful, however one must not forget that stakes are also very high as mistakes tend to be unforgiving.