Neurosurgeon vs Neuro-Oncologist(Surgical)

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<pre><code> I am currently a sophomore in High School, I want to be a doctor that works with the brain. I am interested in Neurosurgery and Neuro-Oncology(surgical). Which field has more pay, better lifestyle, and a more preferable enviornment. How many years of residency would go into each one? Which field is more competitive than the other? Also is there a way I can go in to medical school directly instead of undergrad.? I also heard that certain schools have 6 year programs in place of 4 year undergrad and 4 year med. school; is this true, if so are there any top credited schools for this type of education. What would I have to do in order to prepare for a 6 year school? What should I major in to become any of the feilds specified above. What does a Neurosurgeon basically do? What does a Neuro-Oncologist do?

Sorry for many questions. I am uncertain to what i should do.
Please excuse punctuation, spelling and grammar errors if any.

                                                    Thanks In Advance

</code></pre>

2

<p>Neurosurgeons diagnose, treat and rehabilitate thru surgery and other methods disorders of the brain, spinal chord and peripheral nervous system.</p>

<p>Surgical neuro-oncology is a subspecialty of neurosurgery and requires 10 years of post- med school training. (7 year residency + 3 years fellowship).</p>

<p>Neuro-oncology is the treatment of brain neoplasms (tumors, cysts and other growths), usually thru the use of chemical and biologic methods. (Chemo-therapy) Neuro-oncology is a subspecialty of neurology–5 years of neurology residency followed by a 3 years of neuro-oncology fellowship.</p>

<p>Many brain cancers are primarily treated by radiation therapy–which requires a different training path via radiation oncology (1-2 years of general internal medicine followed by 4 years of radiation oncology residency followed by 1-3 years of neuro-radio-oncology)</p>

<p>All of these specialties are among the most competitive there are. Each requires high med school grades, high STEP scores, exceptional LORs from your supervising praeceptors in your neuro and surgical rotations plus certain personal characteristics.</p>

<p>In the US, there is no way to move directly from high school into medical school. All US medical schools require applicants to have completed their baccalaureate degree before they are admitted. A very, very few exceptional applicants (maybe a handful each decade) may be admitted after 3 years of college and the completion of all medical school pre-requisite coursework.</p>

<p>Currently, there are no 6 year combined BA/MD program in the US. There are some that are 7 year combined BA/MD programs. George Washington University, Rutgers/UMCNJ, UT-Dallas/UT-Southwestern, Univ of Missouri-KC, Boston University. But most combined BA/MD programs are 8 years long. </p>

<p>If you want to apply to medical school, you can major in any academic subject you want in college so long as you complete med school pre-reqs. Medical schools have certain course requirements that you must complete in order to be considered for admission. Biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, mathematics/calculus, statistics, English & communication, and starting in 2015, sociology and psychology. (Some schools have additional requirements like genetics, anatomy, physiology and upper level humanities.)</p>

3

<p>Thank-You so much WayOutWestMom, you dont know how much this helped me. Also do you know how much the pay, lifestyle and death rate of the patients are? </p>

<p>Once again Thank-You.</p>

4

<p>Any oncology field is emotionally difficult one because of the high mortality rate of the patients an oncologist treats. Brain cancers have an especially high mortality rate. (Glioma has a 98-99% mortality rate at 5 years post diagnosis.)</p>

<p>How much a physician earns depends on many factors, including specialty, the geographic location where the physician practices, whether the physician is in private practice, a managed care group practice or at a academic medical center, whether the physician is a partner or an employee. You can google physician salaries + specialty name to see a range of possible incomes. </p>

<p>I would suggest you not get too excited over the upper range for the salaries. Those very, very high salaries typically are earned by only a very few doctors who practice in very expensive cities and who have full or partial ownership in clinics/hospitals associated with their practice.</p>

<p>Another thing to remember is that physicians do not earn “doctor’s salaries” immediately after graduating from medical school. Residents and fellows earn significantly less than practicing physicians. (UPS drivers earn as much as a medical resident.) </p>

<p>You also need to consider the cost of medical school. The average debt of medical student who graduates from an in-state med school is $186,000 . The average debt for student attending an private or out-of-state medical school is $250,000+.</p>

<p>And scholarships for medical school? They really don’t exist. </p>

<p>Neurosurgery is very demanding field with extremely long hours. 10-18 hour days 7 days/week are not uncommon. Surgeries may be scheduled at night because of OR availability. And neurosurgeons are frequently on call. Neurosurgeons are on call nights, weekends and holidays. It can be difficult to schedule time off unless there are enough other neurosurgeons in your locale who are willing to take over management of your patients while you’re gone.</p>

<p>Neurologists and radiation oncologists also work long hours, but not as long as neurosurgeons. Both specialties also have call and often have 6 or 7 day work weeks. </p>

<p>Any surgery specialty is extremely demanding with long hours. My older D is considering a surgical specialty, but is reluctant to commit because of: 1) the long training period (7+ years) and 2) the terrible lifestyle surgeons have. Days that start at 4 am and end after midnight. Years without a vacation.</p>

<p>There’s a reason why surgeons have such high divorce rates.</p>

5

<p>hi icrave</p>

<p>I wanted to be a neurosurgeon too. So I spent time shadowing and rotating with neurosurgeons. Not a very happy bunch. Lots of back pain, head trauma and miserable patients.</p>

<p>Each field in medicine has its attractions and down sides. As you get older, spend time shadowing doctors in their offices and the hospital. There are lots of great subspecialties, and many have to do with the brain. Neurology, ophthalmology, ENT skull base surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, spine, vascular, all deal a lot with the brain. Radiation therapy and oncology do to.</p>

<p>Have fun exploring, and get excited about the prospect of helping people. No one knows if medicine will pay anything at all by the time you get out of training in 20 years.</p>