The medical field is one of the most prominent, busiest, and challenging field of profession. The medical field also holds one of the most important and hardest responsibilities because the medical field focuses on providing the best medical care and services to every person. The reason why professionals who work under this field have it difficult for them because people rely on the medical professional’s decisions and knowledge about medicine and it could heavily affect the patient’s condition. In addition to this, medical professionals are also burdened by a heavy responsibility because their jobs revolve in life and death situations.
But of course, we all know that medical professionals were not just hired immediately after they graduate from college, no that is not case, folks. The medical professionals who work in the medical fields today went to loads of lectures and laboratory works throughout their extensive years of education in college, medical school, and as doctors in training or residents. All throughout those years of preparation before they became healthcare professionals has shaped them into competent and excellent medical professionals. Mind you that the medical training is extremely competitive and it is loaded of information regarding multiple branches of science.
All medical professionals have honorable jobs and have important roles in the medical field that ensures the safety of every person or patients but in this article, we will be mostly talking about surgeons. Surgeons are also one of the most popular medical professionals there is. Surgeons are the medical practitioners who have undergone so many years of education, medical school, and training. The reason why they have to go for so many years of training, some goes beyond a decade, is because their expertise focuses on operating on a patient’s internal system, which is extremely sensitive and are prone to dangerous risks that could harm the patient. Added to this is the complexity of the internal systems. Our different internal systems, as we all know, are closely packed or in-tact to each other. They also consist of multiple nerve bundles and endings as well as extremely sensitive tissues of the organs. This is why medical students aspiring to become surgeons, study for so many years because of the complexness they have to face when they become surgeons in the future.
Another information regarding surgeons is that there is not just one specificity of surgeon that could operate on every system of the body, that is called a general surgeon; a surgeon which holds all the fundamental knowledge of every internal system of the body. Besides general surgeons, there are other surgeons who have different specialties as well, or to clarify it better, surgeons who are more specific with what type of surgery and internal system they have to perform. The human body has about 11 systems that function altogether, but if met with pathogens or situations that will lead to critical decline, a surgeon comes in for the rescue. Medical students decide on what type of specialty they want to pursue. Some of the most common specialties are operating on the thoracic area; chest, heart, lungs, and esophagus, next is in the skeletal system, to operate on bones, another one is plastic surgery, which is a surgical process that focuses on performing reconstruction or aesthetic changes to the appearance of the patient, as for the most complex and hardest surgery, is revolving on the nervous system; the brain, spinal cord, and nerves.
What is a Neurological Surgeon?
As what is previously mentioned before, a neurological surgeon is a type of surgeon who focuses on treating a patient’s nervous system if there are any neurological disorders, tumors, or any other diseases that concern the nervous system.
Neurological surgeons are also called neurosurgeons and since the nervous system is the most complex and most sensitive internal system of the body due to the number of nerve endings and nerve bundles that compose it, the study of neurology and neurosurgery would take more than a decade to master. Added to this, neurological surgeons also get paid the highest with the amount between $500,000 up to $700,000 every year.
How to Become a Neurological Surgeon?
Despite being one of the most complex and hardest expertise, being a neurosurgeon is extremely high in demand. Medical students who aspire to become neurological surgeons undergo undergraduate studies at their chosen college with a pre-medical course. This undergraduate studies usually take 4 years to accomplish.
After the undergraduate studies or pre-medical studies, the students will then apply to medical school for further education and to acquire a master’s or doctorate degree. Getting a Master’s and Doctorate’s degree usually take about another 4 years of education.
The next step for the process of becoming a neurosurgeon is to apply for an internship in general surgery in order to get the experience of performing a surgical operation in a medical facility. After a year of general surgery internship, it is now time to take residency in neurosurgery, which usually take at least 5 years, and 7 years at most.
Some residents or doctors in training also take a fellowship once they finished their residency program in order to specialize in a specific field. At this point, the residents are now allowed to take a licensure exam and if they pass, they became certified neurosurgeons. They can also continue with their education even if they became official neurological surgeons already, by attending seminars, webinars, meetings, for the purposes of keeping with the advancement of neurological studies so that they can apply the knowledge for their line of work.
That is basically the gist of becoming a neurosurgeon. It looks easy but it is easier said than done. Neurosurgery is extremely difficult and daunting since a neurological surgeon has to deal with the center of a person’s body and one mistake could make the operation go awry. But despite the difficulties, with passion, dedication, and hard work, success will be guaranteed.
Sources:
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/highland/departments-centers/neurosurgery/what-is-a-neurosurgeon.aspx
https://www.facs.org/education/resources/residency-search/specialties/neuro
https://www.ohsu.edu/school-of-medicine/neurosurgery/what-neurosurgery
