On the other side of the barricades: life through the eyes of neurosurgeons. What do neurosurgeons treat: a description of the medical specialty

Neurosurgeon is a specialist who performs diagnostics, non-operative and surgical treatment nervous system (spinal cord and brain, developmental pathologies, vascular pathologies, etc.). Doctors who choose neurosurgery have access to best technology and equipment. The profession is suitable for those who are interested in chemistry and biology (see the choice of profession for interest in school subjects).

Short description

Neurosurgery - promising direction medicine that is constantly evolving. A neurosurgeon treats diseases of the spinal cord and brain, conducts research, diagnostics, working with the following types congenital and acquired diseases:

• epilepsy (modern achievement of neurosurgery);
• injuries, congenital and oncological diseases;
• vascular pathologies;
• stroke, heart attack;
• pain syndromes;
• developmental anomalies;
• Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases;
• mental disorders and others.

Most often, surgical intervention is used for treatment, but the duties of a neurosurgeon include examination of the patient, diagnosis, observation before and after surgery.

Features of the profession

Neurosurgeons help to overcome diseases that were previously considered incurable: oncology, epilepsy, injuries after which a person could not walk. The direction is intensively developing, today neurosurgery is divided into several types:

• purulent-septic neurosurgery, necessary to eliminate infectious and purulent-septic complications;
• spinal, necessary for the treatment of congenital and acquired pathologies;
• children's. Doctors who have chosen this direction work with congenital pathologies and injuries of small patients (cerebral palsy, vascular anomalies, dropsy, TBI, malformations, and others);
• functional, necessary for the treatment of epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, spastic syndromes that have arisen on the background of trauma and other diseases;
• endovascular neurosurgery, which is a young direction. During surgical intervention not incisions are made, but punctures, the operation is performed in a modern X-ray operating room;
• neurooncology, necessary for the treatment, study and diagnosis of tumor diseases;
• neurotraumatology. This direction is necessary for the treatment of TBI and PST.

Neurosurgeons - specialists high level who must have excellent theoretical knowledge, the ability to work with modern equipment. notice, that poor eyesight, any kind of tremor, nervous diseases These are contraindications for the profession. Neurosurgeons have excellent coordination, sensitive fingers, increased concentration attention and endurance, because a complex operation can last more than 12 hours.

Responsibilities

1. Conducting examinations and diagnostics.
2. Training necessary to gain knowledge about the methods of treatment, diagnosis and prevention of a profile group of diseases.
3. Collection of anamnesis.
4. Surgical treatment of emergency conditions.
5. Drawing up a treatment plan.
6. Planned surgical interventions.
7. Accompanying the patient after surgery.
8. Doing medical records and reports.
9. Monitoring the work of junior medical staff.
10. Scientific activity.

Pros and cons of the profession

pros

1. An emerging field of medicine.
2. Society respect.
3. Opportunity to open your own clinic.
4. Foreign business trips necessary to gain knowledge about progressive methods of treatment.
5. Daily life saving.
6. Rare specialty.

Minuses

1. You need to study for more than 7 years.
2. TO practical work most often allowed doctors older than 26-27 years.
3. High competition in universities.
4. Lots of doctor requirements.
5. Constant learning.
6. Irregular working hours and a floating work schedule, because an experienced neurosurgeon can be invited to operate at any time of the day or night. A severe patient will not wait until the doctor sleeps or takes a walk with the child.

Unfortunately, neurosurgeons often face incurable diseases And difficult situations during surgery, which can depress the doctor. The work is extremely difficult, because an unfinished textbook, a skipped lecture at a university, a wrong move can cost the life of an adult or a small patient.

Important Personal Qualities

1. Increased responsibility.
2. Excellent concentration.
3. Magnificent memory.
4. A high self-evaluation.
5. Accuracy.
6. Pedantry.
7. Ability to communicate with people.
8. Disgust.
9. Endurance.
10. moral stability.

Neurosurgery training

Applicants who choose this direction should prepare for the fact that the training lasts for more than 7-9 years. First, the applicant enters medical school, after 6 years of study, he, having chosen a direction, undergoes residency, where he studies for another 2 years, and then receives a certificate confirming his qualifications. Of course, a young neurosurgeon will not be allowed to complex operations, so for several years you will have to work with mild patients, gaining experience.

Applicants most often apply for the specialty "Medicine" (specialty code 31.05.01), passing the following main exams:

• Russian language;
• chemistry and biology.

Be sure to find out the list of exams, because some universities require tests in physics, English, mathematics and other general subjects.

Residency

1. Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.
2. Center of Neurosurgery named after Academician N. N. Burdenko.
3. National Medical Research Center named after V. A. Almazov.
4. Novosibirsk NIITO them. Ya.L. Tsivyan.
5. Russian medical Academy postgraduate education.
6. Republican Clinical Hospital. N.I. Semashko.

The Medical University of Innovation and Development (MUIR) conducts advanced training courses in the direction. Specialists with specialized higher education can be trained medical education. The duration of the course is from 16 - 249 hours (depending on the level of training and the wishes of the students), upon completion a certificate and a certificate are issued.

Place of work

A young neurosurgeon can work in private and public medical centers while being a practicing physician. Experienced neurosurgeons can dedicate their lives scientific research, teaching, but very often they combine practice with scientific work which helps to improve skills.

Salary

Salary as of 03/28/2019

Moscow 50000—150000 ₽

Career

Young people without experience who have chosen neurosurgery work as ordinary doctors, gaining practical experience. After reaching the age of 35-40 years, a neurosurgeon can take the position of head of the department or chief physician. Further career growth is to receive degree for which it is necessary to write and defend a dissertation. Successful dissertation defense in a positive way affects wages practicing neurosurgeon.

Professional knowledge

1. Knowledge of medical Latin and terminology.
2. Modern research methods (X-ray, CSF analysis, CT, echoencephaloscopy and others).
3. Ability to operate equipment (microscopes, ultrasonic sensors and others).
4. Ability to work with tools (nippers, scissors, clamps, surgical spoons, hammers and chisels, expanders, etc.).
5. Various types of diagnostics.

Notable neurosurgeons

1. Fedor Krause.
2. Lars Leksell.
3. Nikolay Burdenko.

“I am a neurosurgeon with over 10 years of experience. At the same time, my salary is about 30,000 rubles. per month. To survive, I work around the clock. Doctors study for eight or nine years, then to work all day long. Patients write complaints if the doctor did not smile at them - it seems to them that the doctor does not care about them. Unexpected news: the doctor really doesn't care. He is too tired to pay attention to anything but illness. But the doctor does not want another life,” admits the Russian neurosurgeon.

Beggarly wages for hard work

I:My first question is: how much does a doctor earn in our country? Now they talk a lot about gains, about how much better life has become for doctors - is it really so? And where the doctor earns more in free medicine or paid?

N.:Every year we announce that doctors have increased salaries. The last time it happened, I think, was this July. But the salary fund from these statements does not change. So we just cut the allowances. As a result, the salaries of half of the doctors have not changed, while the half have decreased.

The country is optimizing medicine, but we, doctors, prefer to call it “optimist”

There is an order of the President - by 2018, the salary of a doctor should be raised to 100 thousand rubles. This is achieved in two ways: first, by ignoring how many rates the doctor works to get these hundred thousand. Second, cutting jobs. Previously, we were on duty with four of us, now there are two of us. We have about 50 patients per day. Everyone needs to be examined, helped and, if necessary, operated on.

The doctor's salary itself is about 20 thousand, the rest is allowances, they depend on the category and academic degree. In planned medicine, a doctor earns about 30,000 rubles by working at one rate - that is, five days a week, four weeks a month. I have two positions in two different hospitals and three teaching positions. Sometimes I work two or three days in a row. Every doctor is forced to work like this - otherwise there will be nothing to live and feed the family.

The numbers given are best options around town. There are less salaries - young neurosurgeons receive 18 thousand rubles each

In emergency medicine, they pay a little more, about 40 thousand for one rate. This is with payments for work at night. One rate in emergency medicine is seven daily shifts per month. When you work for one position, you have time to rest. Patients don't bother you. You are attentive and sensitive. You don’t burn out emotionally, but all the time you think about how to survive: you can’t go somewhere on vacation, get a mortgage, buy normal clothes. In the end, you break down and take the second - third bet.

I should note that few people aspire to paid healthcare. They pay about the same there, many specialties do not find application at all. In addition, if you work only in private medicine, your medical experience does not go. The precedent when a doctor could not get a certificate due to the fact that for the last five years he worked exclusively in private clinic, already was. The fact is that the state cannot control the private sector, so it does not know - maybe you are in paid clinic decorated by a surgeon, and you work as a cleaner.

How not to sleep as a doctor

I: I wouldn't want to be a doctor. By the way, what do patients complain about most often? bad doctor? bad medicine? Something else?

N.: You know, oddly enough, the main complaints are not at all about the quality of treatment, but that we, doctors, are evil and callous people, that we do not speak politely enough. "Why didn't you smile at me? Why don't you sympathize with me?" - this is generally the most beloved.

Again, it was not so long ago, from the practice of my husband: he is an ambulance doctor, he leaves in an intensive care machine. At night, at three o'clock, they call him. As it turned out later, it was a fit of hysteria in a girl of 23 years old (note: that is, nothing serious) and her young man, also a young boy, who saw all this for the first time, called an ambulance. Well, upon the arrival of the brigade, the boy begins to get the paramedic - the girl and my husband, he is indignant: “Why are you with such indifferent faces ?! Why don't you care about my grief?" Felscher looks at him phlegmatically and answers, in my opinion, brilliantly - “Do you want me to cry now?”

No one can understand that if you empathize, you won't be able to help. That is, either empathize or treat, there is no other way. Everything does not happen together, the doctor is simply not enough to suffer with all the patients, he will not be able to treat - he will get drunk, get depressed, and eventually leave the profession.

Therefore, of course, most of the complaints are precisely about this - he didn’t look like that, he didn’t smile like that, he didn’t say tenderly enough, a soulless doctor! At the same time, a bouquet of flowers for the doctor became a rarity. Half simply collects things in the ward and silently disappears from the hospital. Even a banal “thank you” is most often not heard.

Physicians' cynicism is emotional burnout and protection from it at the same time. With cynicism, like armor, you separate yourself from the patient's personality so that when he dies, you don't die with him. You must not feel sorry for the patient, you must act for him. You hurt him so that later he will feel good

Comedy Club and patients

I:Tiny salary, 11 years of study, overtime, dissatisfied patients - is there something fun in the work of a doctor?

N.:Oh yeah! I leave almost every shift with the feeling that I am a person without imagination. Because I can't even think of doing what 90% of my patients do.

Here I am, for example, working in a children's hospital: a very real situation - a young mother is going for a walk, she starts to make up in the bathroom. He puts the child in the same place on the washing machine, so that he was at hand. The child is a month or two, the machine turns on the spin mode, and the baby suddenly flies away - a traumatic brain injury. And this is not even an extraordinary situation, it is a reality, there are 2-3 such patients per day.

The extraordinary situation is like this - the father was left with the child, the father wanted to smoke, and the child at the same time wanted to use the potty. What is dad doing? He puts the child on the potty, puts the pot on the closet and goes to smoke on the balcony. What is the child doing? He gets up from the potty and flies head first off the closet! The child has a skull fracture.

Or mother puts the child in the bath, the child is 8 months old. She decides that the water is somehow too cold and puts the basin on the gas burner with the child. And this is not some remote village, this is an ordinary educated resident of St. Petersburg. And such stories, funny and not very funny in terms of consequences - you can write a book.

One of the big frustrations of a new doctor is that you study to save people, and then you get into practice and find out that the routine of a doctor is to tell an idiot that he is an idiot so that he does not complain about you later.

Aspirin and prayers: about cancer and drugs in Russia

I:My veterinarian joked that soon the clinics would start collecting herbs from the fields, making infusions in buckets, and prescribing to patients. How are we doing with medicines now?

N.: Yes, she's right, it's getting worse. Firstly, we live in a system of drug procurement for the year ahead: there were more patients than you predicted based on the dynamics of past years - and the drugs ran out in September. The purchaser made a mistake - there are no medicines. That is, until the next purchase, you can prescribe only what is left in stock in the clinic and nothing else.

At the same time, you do not have the right to offer to purchase a medicine for a patient on your own. Either the patient will immediately make a scandal and go to your superiors to complain. Or he will buy a medicine, and then write a statement to the health committee about extortion. And in the end, all this will be deducted from my salary. Assign what is, do nothing. Secondly, the policy of import substitution affects: not all purchased generics of drugs correspond in their effectiveness original drugs. Here, too, nothing depends on the doctor.

Compared to the 90s, the absence of medicines is still rare, but, although not often yet, there are already situations when you can only offer a patient good word and holy water

But there is also good moments: in Russian neurosurgery and oncology, patient rehabilitation is poorly developed, but primary treatment- operations, radiation therapy, chemotherapy - we have excellent, at least, V major cities. And the treatment is free. If a doctor - an oncologist in a free clinic, starts saying something like "you should get treatment for a fee, our drugs are bad", then most often this only means that it is not very good. good man Or he wants to earn. We provide free cancer treatment.

About the quality of free treatment

I:But what to do in situations when you cannot prescribe a medicine because it is not available? You should tell him something like “you need drug N, it helps better, but you won’t get it for free”? You can't keep silent about it, can you?

N.:Can. It is not the doctor who sets the framework, this is how our healthcare organizers behave, legally obliging doctors to prescribe what they have. Here, again, is our system of mandatory health insurance implies that we should treat the patient only for the disease with which he came to the hospital. And it doesn't matter what else hurts the patient - they brought him with a leg, we will treat the leg.

They brought him with a concussion - we are treating him for a concussion, let me see that he has aggravated in parallel urolithiasis disease, I have no right to order an ultrasound of the kidneys to see what is happening there. Insurance Company he won’t pay for it, and if I appoint him, he will also deduct the cost of the examination from my salary. With an exacerbation of another problem, they can be transferred, in agreement with the insurance company, to a specialized department and treated again from scratch. Or, if the situation is not dangerous, write out with a verbal recommendation to contact a specialist. But I will not be able to examine comprehensively and treat.

When parents bring a child with a concussion, in any case, I will do everything that is prescribed under the MHI. If I see another problem that has nothing to do with concussion - neurological or even general- I will act according to the situation - if parents try to download rights, although I did not have time to open my mouth, I will fulfill my duties well and no more. If the parents are polite and communicate normally, I will let them know about the problem that I suspected. Those who liked it - successfully joked, very pleasant in communication - will receive not just advice to consult a doctor, but a contact of a doctor who will definitely help.

To be honest, doctors work hard. And when the patient begins to speak in the spirit of “you have to, you have to, you don’t give your all one hundred percent!”, I start laughing. If I start to give all the best only one hundred percent, at the same time sympathize and go beyond the scope of my obligations under compulsory medical insurance, the patients of the doctors will not be counted

And a little about the oddities of personal life

I:How is it with all these shifts and stresses personal life at the doctors? When do you have time to rest? Are you married? In general, doctors are most often singles or family people?

N.:In those days when I worked day after day in the hospital, or even two days later, when it turned out that you work about 20 days a month. So in such times, time around you flies by chance. You suddenly look out the window of the hospital, and you realize that it snowed. Then, according to your feelings, you look out the window almost the next day, and there it is already summer.

All your friends are offended by you, because you either do not come to the meetings to which you are called, or you come and quietly fall asleep in a corner. Ultimately, non-medical friends take over everything in your life. less space, they are practically non-existent. Only health workers like you remain around you. They understand your schedule, your jokes, understand when you do not answer the phone or do not answer sms for half a day.

Medicine is a very selfish woman, she does not tolerate rivals

Relationships are not easy either. Due to night shifts, you are often not at home even at night. Therefore, of course, very few men and women who are not from medicine are ready to accept that you are constantly not at home, and when you come, you go to bed and again you are not up to them. Therefore, the main marriages are between doctors and paramedics, between doctors and nurses, between surgeons and paramedics, in general, from their own environment. My husband works for an ambulance, in part, so we understand each other perfectly.

Physicians change, by the way, also with their own, and the percentage of changes in this environment is quite high. Most often they change in the same place where they work. This is the effect of a hostel - you are together 24 hours and become a kind of family. They hide behind the wording: "I'm on duty", and a disconnected phone

And when children appear, they grow like tumbleweeds: in kindergartens, grandparents and under the table in the staff room. And you can't do anything about it. Most children of doctors, by the time they reach college age, either go into medicine themselves, or hate medicine because they think it has taken away their childhood, mom and dad.

Medicine takes almost the whole life of a doctor. But it is, indeed, a calling.If you are a surgeon, you will not change your scalpel for a therapist's gown or a boss's chair.

Neurosurgery is a medical branch dedicated to the treatment and diagnosis of diseases of the spinal cord, brain, spinal column, and peripheral nerves. A neurosurgeon is a specialist whose field of activity includes the identification and treatment of disorders of the nervous system. What do neurosurgeons treat? You will learn a more detailed answer to this question from this article.

What diseases does a neurosurgeon treat?

The working areas of a neurosurgeon include the skull, brain and spinal cord, as well as the spinal column. Therefore, it is obvious that neurosurgeons treat various pathologies affecting the nervous system of patients.

The tasks of a neurosurgeon include surgical treatment of the following pathologies:

• benign and malignant neoplasms in the region of the skull, including at its base (hemangioblastomas, astrocytomas, pituitary adenomas, abscesses, neuromas, etc.);
• all types of brain and skull injuries;
• congenital or acquired developmental disorders of the brain and skull;
• spinal injuries, such as fractures;
• circulatory disorders of the brain;
• diseases of the peripheral nerves traumatic injuries etc.).

Where do they train to be neurosurgeons?

To become a neurosurgeon, you need to graduate medical University majoring in Medicine. However, after receiving a diploma, a doctor does not yet become a neurosurgeon: additional training is required, that is, an internship. Only after passing all the necessary exams, a specialist is awarded a qualification.

Studying in an internship is quite difficult, because a neurosurgeon that treats various diseases nervous system, must be well versed in many areas modern medicine, own English language, have clinical thinking and have a "firm hand", because the patient's life depends on any careless movement. A neurosurgeon who treats a patient must be completely confident in his actions.

Requirements for the personality of a neurosurgeon

You should not think that any person who graduated from a medical university can practice neurosurgery. In this profession, such personal qualities as self-confidence, accuracy, psychological stability are extremely important.

Neurosurgical operations are considered one of the most difficult: the operating field often has small size, many actions are performed under a microscope. In addition, a specialist must understand not only the anatomy of the nervous system, but also the equipment that is used today to perform most of named operations. After all, a neurosurgeon is a doctor who treats patients with the help of special equipment, which is quite difficult to work with.

When do you need to see a neurosurgeon?

The main symptoms that indicate that there is a need to make an appointment with a neurosurgeon include:

1. Numbness of the fingers, pain in the hand, dizziness and sudden unreasonable drops in blood pressure.
2. Nausea, tinnitus, headaches, and difficulty with perception new information following a head injury.
3. the cause of which cannot be established.
4. Loss of sensation and movement of the limbs.
5. Pathology of the brain or spine detected during MRI.

Knowing what neurosurgeons treat, you can consult a doctor in time and avoid the development of a pathological process.

What types of diagnostic procedures does a neurosurgeon perform?

We told you what neurosurgeons treat. However, the tasks of this specialist include not only therapy, but also the identification of pathological processes. Thus, a neurosurgeon can perform the following diagnostic measures:

• (to determine intracranial pressure);
• computed tomography (to detect tumors, brain displacements, hydrocephalus, etc.);
• magnetic resonance imaging, which allows you to get pictures of nerve structures with very high resolution. Thanks to MRI, it is possible to see the smallest pathological changes head and spinal cord;
• echoencephalography, that is, the display of ultrasonic waves that are reflected from the area under study. EEG is prescribed to detect hematomas and hemorrhages, as well as hydrocephalus. It can be carried out directly at the patient's bed, so this procedure quite in demand in neurosurgical practice;
• positron emission tomography for the detection of neoplasms, as well as the diagnosis of epilepsy and strokes;
• angiography to study pathological processes affecting the vessels of the brain.

Imagine that a neurosurgeon treats adults and children, it is easy to understand that this profession requires considerable knowledge, the highest qualifications and, of course, the desire to help people. By the way, if the last factor is absent, then it is better to refuse to work as a doctor.

The level of training of neurosurgeons in Russia, in my opinion, is no worse than in Germany or Spain. We have different approaches to patients, for example, the preparation time for surgery is longer there. But I'm not ready to say where it's better and worse, it's just different everywhere. Maybe somewhere there the equipment is more advanced, but even here now there are generally all the conditions for providing assistance at a high level.

For me, as a neurosurgeon, the best appreciation of my work is when you come to the patient after the operation, and he smiles and says: "I feel much better." It is very motivating if the patient is ready to return to normal life, rehabilitate, learn to walk. It happens, of course, when a brilliantly performed operation does not bring results, but even then you should not give the patient a reason to doubt your work, you should not lose particles of hope, you must always be there and encourage. There are also reverse cases, when deep down you consider the situation unpromising, but it turns out the opposite.

They come to our operating room with various aneurysms, vascular pathologies, neurooncology, craniocerebral and spinal injuries complicated neurologically. With the exception of this - patients with disorders of the peripheral nervous system or positional neuropathy. In the regional hospital, we perform all types of operations, from open to minimally invasive, such as removal of tumors through the nose or hernias through punctures.

Anatomically, the brain of one person is not much different from the brain of another person. Naturally, you cannot distinguish by the appearance of the organ who is smart and who is stupid. Also, it has never happened in my practice that a person wakes up, and suddenly he knows Spanish, and I don't believe that this generally happens. Sometimes patients say that they saw some kind of tunnels under anesthesia during the operation, but I am skeptical about this.

Once I helped pull a stool leg out of a patient's head - most likely you remember this high-profile case that occurred in 2013. Seen this for the first time. Imagine, they bring a man to us, a stool sticks out of his head, this whole structure is made of metal legs and a seat. I was then surprised that he was generally alive. In general, when he entered, it was necessary to do a CT scan, but with a stool in his head, he did not fit into the apparatus. Then we called the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the rescuers cut down everything superfluous. After the CT scan, neurosurgeon Pavel Rudenko and I were amazed at how the leg went from one edge to the opposite through the entire brain. We performed the operation and this man walked out of the hospital with his feet!

Somehow, a patient was brought to us who fell into a 40-meter abyss and survived. He was brought to us completely paralyzed, broken, we did a CT scan and I was amazed - what happened to him was nonsense. It was a very hard fracture with dislocation. We performed the operation, he was discharged partially paralyzed, but when I met him at the check-up after discharge - he was walking on his own legs! With such an injury, people do not walk, but he fully recovered. Two years after the incident, they call me to the emergency room, they say: they brought a person after an accident. I come and recognize my patient in the uniform of a security guard. He says: yes, you operated on me, it's me, I work in security and got into an accident. I tell him: so you can’t drive, you have epilepsy. But then everything worked out. I hope he doesn't drive now, he has his own car service and the only thing that worries him is small pains in back. I think it's the least price you could pay.

The work of a neurosurgeon is a team work. We work in a very large team, neuropathologists of the neurosurgical department are always with us, we actively cooperate with rehabilitation specialists. When between doctors and nursing staff complete idyll, it has a better effect on the recovery and dynamics of the patient.

How to become a neurosurgeon

Interested in studying the brain? Plunge into the world of medicine. This article contains some useful information about the requirements to become a neurosurgeon. Take a look. A specialist who specializes in the treatment of diseases of the brain, spinal cord, nerves and other disorders of the central nervous system is a neurosurgeon. He is a doctor who specializes in surgical treatment nervous system. The job description involves performing a variety of surgeries, helping patients with medications, assisting psychiatrists and sex therapists on occasion. Becoming a neurosurgeon means working hard for a number of years, with extensive training experience going on at the same time.

Most students who aspire to become a neurosurgeon are one general question; how long does it take to become one? Well, unlike engineering, law, art, etc. you are looking for a minimum of ten years, but the compensation of this profession is one of the highest in the US. The kind of skill and training that goes into being a neurosurgeon is highly specialized, and provides a strong financial stability. The prelude to this profession begins after graduating.

Bachelor degree
Applicants should carefully choose their term papers, and must take subjects such as biology, biochemistry, and human anatomy. GPA, which is expected to be 3.5, and you will have one of the best in your college to get admission to medical school. Apart from these requirements, you must also have a high score in the Medical College Admission Test (MGAT). Entrance tests to test the knowledge of the candidate through a series of several questions answered. Then unfinished students should apply from the American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Medical schools also look at the student's character certificate, transcripts and letters of recommendation.

Medical school
Applicants typically spend the first two years of their medical school attending lectures and performing practical tasks in laboratories. Various fields that specialize in anatomy, physiology, pathology, medical ethics etc. In the last couple of years they higher education, they work with patients under supervision experienced doctors.

Neurosurgery Residency Program
Upon completion of medical school, you will have to complete a residency in which you will gain experience in various aspects of neurosurgery. Many neurosurgeons find the residency program to be one of the most grueling stages. The first year you spend at the residency goes into acquiring basic skills, and the next five years are spent in learning various neurological sciences.

Licensing and certification
After completing your residency, you can apply through your state medical board and get a license. After several years of practice, you will also be eligible for certification and you will become a board certified neurosurgeon with the American Board of Neurosurgery.

Salary
Neurosurgeon salaries are among the highest in the US. Experienced professionals can make as much as $400,000pa. New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago are the cities that pay the highest, and between the states of California and Texas are the best place for work. Neurosurgeons with less than one year of experience can earn anywhere between $60,000 to $200,000. In addition to the annual salary, they are also entitled to profit sharing, bonuses, pensions and different kinds insurance.

If you truly have the passion to excel in this highly specialized field medical sciences, perseverance, determination, and a lot of hard work, will be some of the key factors. There are a lot of people who think that to become a neurosurgeon you have to be very smart and that is something that the average student should not dream of. While there may be some weight in your claims, your determination and desire to succeed will ensure that you are able to overcome the obstacles that come your way.