<p>I know, I know. It's almost certainly not going to happen, and if it does I'd probably be a zombie by the end of 16+ years of training. That said, does anyone have any experience or suggestions? I have done a fair bit of research and it's really depressing seeing how amazing you have to be to succeed. Is there anything I should do to prepare in high school, any summer programs I should do? I really enjoy learning about it, my mom's taking a course in neuroscience for fun and I've read half her textbook (not that I understand all of it, but it's still pretty awesome). Any and all advice is appreciated and if you want to tell me that it sucks or that it's impossible that's okay too :) </p>
<p>Also, what do you think it takes (i.e. what kind of person do you have to be) to succeed at this sort of thing?</p>
<p>I think the biggest thing is just being passionate about it. I figure most successful doctors have a genuine passion for helping others, so I assume a successful neurosurgeon is simply a combo of that passion + a passion for understanding the physical aspects of the nervous system.</p>
<p>If it’s really what you wanna do then god dammit you’ll end up doing it. If your high school offers any electives/courses in neuroscience I’d suggest taking them. Just do well and keep your eyes on the ‘prize’ and you’ll end up doing what you love. </p>
<p>Note: I don’t speak from personal experience, I’m a bloody business major, but I’ve found that the most successful people I know simply followed their hearts. If you’re set on it then you can do amazing things.</p>
<p>There are a few practical prerequisites: neurosurgeons need a steady hand and work well under stress, for instance. </p>
<p>Are you planning on going to medical school in Canada or in the US? I don’t know how medical education works in Canada, but for medical school in the US I would tell you the following: </p>
<p>There’s not much you can do in high school that will make a difference to your medical career. The best you can do is work hard in your science classes (to get a good foundation for your college science classes; your science GPA will be very important for medical school applications) and hone your people skills. And no, which college you attend will not limit your medical school options as long as you keep your GPA up and do well on the MCAT.</p>
<p>The US, Canada is next to impossible (they don’t favor Canadians over international students, and there are so few schools!). Besides, I don’t want to practice/live here. My first choice is the UK but that is even harder and recent immigration laws have made it impossible unfortunately.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight, I wish there were some programs that I could do though :(</p>
<p>I’m definitely just like you. I’m aspiring to be a surgeon. I’m still in high school, bit I’m making the most of it. I’m taking several science classes. I love science and o want to show colleges I want to do something with science and I’m doing it. Try and take as much science classes as you can in high school. A lot of what you do in high school doesn’t really determine if you’re going to be a surgeon or not. Keep your GPA up! That way, you’ll get into a good college. Even if you’re not going to a “prestigious” college, it doesn’t mean you can’t be a surgeon. You need a good GPA and a good MCAT score. </p>
<p>I’m not sure what type of surgeon I want to be so, I’m exploring. I’m doing a volunteer program at Georgetown University Hospital, which is big on neurosurgery! They put me in the inpatient Orthopedic Surgery, which is pretty cool. Another day, I’m at the MRI area.
I suggest volunteering at a hospital. Even if they don’t put you in where you want, get to know what happens in the hospital. Familiarize yourself. Plus, it’s always nice volunteering at a hospital.</p>
<p>Definitely “keep your eyes on the prize.” Many people will bring you down and tell you it’s a far reach. Don’t let them get to you. If you have passion, you’re already halfway there. Knowing that you want to do this at this early age is a good thing. Now, you just need to go through the dedication. How far will you go to get there?</p>
<p>I volunteer at a lab and have been into a few clinical ones directly in hospitals. The only problem is, there are no specific programs at hospitals in my area so no one is really willing to help out unfortunately. </p>
<p>It’s good to know that there are people like me who are still considering surgery even though the odds are stacked against them. Thanks for your help and good luck to you as well!</p>
<p>Also, keep your options open. You’re only in high school, yes? Don’t lock yourself into one career path just yet. Do well enough in everything so that you have options. Unless you’ve taken college courses, visited medical schools, shadowed a surgeon, etc. it’s likely you don’t quite know what the road to this end goal entails. Very few people end up in the careers they saw themselves in during college, and even fewer people end up in the careers they saw themselves in during high school.</p>
<p>I don’t say this to discourage you, but to free you and encourage you to continue exposing yourself to wide variety of options. You may start working in a lab your freshman year and decide you want to do research, or you might take a really interesting course in social psychology and human behavior that influences you.</p>
<p>Or you might decide to go into something completely different! I came into college thinking English was the most boring field anyone could possibly go into thanks to my experiences with high school English. But college-level literature studies are vastly different, and had I let my high school dreams influence everything I would have missed out big time.</p>
<p>Passion and dedication! I work in a hospital and all of our doctors seem really down on life. That’s because being a physician or a surgeon is very hard, stressful, and mentally draining. Surgeons have it the worst because their job is so incredibly hard and full of responsibilities.</p>
<p>If neurosurgery is where your heart takes you, then go for it. If you are looking at the money only, I would suggest other specialties within medicine or a whole other career. The money is -of course- excellent, but the work load isn’t worth it unless it is your passion.</p>
<p>BTW, if you can make it to become a MD, you can make it as a neurosurgeon. The problem lies in what YOU want to do and what lifestyle YOU want to live. The other problem lies in the amount of work, which is the hardest part of the whole job.</p>