Neurosurgeon??

[IndefatigableLover]

I've had a look on some government based websites and being inspired by Charles Teo and such.. I want to become a neurosurgeon. But would I have to get a Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery or a Bachelor of Behavioural Neuroscience?

[pi]

MBBS (undergrad, eg. Monash) or MD (post-grad version, eg. UoM) is needed in terms of tertiary qualifications. But from there, the road to becoming a neurosurgeon is even more damn tough and competitive.

[KevinooBz]

Med/surg and then specialize as a neurosurgeon I think. Quite a lengthy course to get to the position but it would be worth it.

[IndefatigableLover]

Yeah I know it's pretty competitive and lengthy as well... but say at the start of the journey.. which uni would be easier to get into?

[pi]

Yeah I know it's pretty competitive and lengthy as well... but say at the start of the journey.. which uni would be easier to get into?

UQ is definitely the easiest to get into in Australia, although I think they are switching to MD next year so I'm not sure how that will effect admissions.

Out of Monash and UoM, obviously try for Monash first (arguably the most competitive to get into in Australia) and all interstate options, but if that fails, then try for UoM and other post-grad unis.

Edit: Changed username for privacy purposes - Phy124

[abeybaby]

as a neurosurgeon, im fairly most of your patients die. i hear from family friends who are GPs that its quite a depressing career

[IndefatigableLover]

UQ is definitely the easiest to get into in Australia, although I think they are switching to MD next year so I'm not sure how that will effect admissions. Out of Monash and UoM, obviously try for Monash first (arguably the most competitive to get into in Australia) and all interstate options, but if that fails, then try for UoM and other post-grad unis.

Roughly how many places are there each year for MBBS at Monash?

as a neurosurgeon, im fairly most of your patients die. i hear from family friends who are GPs that its quite a depressing career

Technology is going to go far and chances of death will fall as time goes by... i think :/

[LOLs99]

as a neurosurgeon, im fairly most of your patients die. i hear from family friends who are GPs that its quite a depressing career

It takes like more than 10 yrs to study neurosurgeon. Then what is the point there?
Btw is there any difference between neurologist and neurosurgeon? Thanks !

[pi]

Btw is there any difference between neurologist and neurosurgeon? Thanks !

Neurologists can't operate, essentially, they just know the theory and do research, lectures and are the specialty that diagnoses the problems seen by neurosurgeons.

edit: deleted the comment on pay after researching it and finding it to be wrong

[KevinooBz]

A neurosurgeon does the surgery whilst the neurologist does the in depth diagnosis of the problem. The reason why people would become a neurosurgeon or neurologist would be the love of neuroscience and also the average salary is really good.

[shinny]

There's more to treatment than just surgery you know... Neurologists do the 'medical' side of things - drug treatment in particular. They'll deal with entirely different conditions in many cases that have no surgical treatment. They're not just a diagnostic slave as the above few posts seem to make them out to be.

as a neurosurgeon, im fairly most of your patients die. i hear from family friends who are GPs that its quite a depressing career

This goes with many areas of Medicine though. It's something you get used to and really, your perspective on death and so on changes quite a bit. A 'benefit' of having such sick patients though is that you get a compensatory increase in satisfaction when you do manage to save someone through what you do though I guess.

[LOLs99]

 is it a good thing as being  a neurosurgeon if I kinda scared of blood ??

[Russ]

You'll either stop being scared of blood or change your career well before you get to the neurosurgeon stage.

For most people it's the former. Many high school students are kinda squeamish about dissection etc. but you eventually just get inured to it

[LOLs99]

Hope so,  then it seems that I really have to think in depth before deciding on whether to choose med course.
Thanks for your opinion

[shinny]

Hope so,  then it seems that I really have to think in depth before deciding on whether to choose med course.
Thanks for your opinion

Blood ends up being the least of your worries when doing Med, trust me. Like Russ said, you'll get used to it. Basically everyone does after over a year of dissections. My friend who initially didn't go into Medicine for that reason and later regretted it and went into Medicine post-grad now says that he got over that fear of blood pretty much instantaneously. You'll find that often you'll just need to put on a brave face for the sake of professionalism; it's actually quite a surprisingly strong motivator! I mean, you're not going to freak out in front of a patient while you're drawing blood from them.

What you don't really get used to as much is many of the other more morbid things. Earlier this year on paediatrics, I had a newborn who passed away and I pretty much had to sit through 3 hours of resuscitation attempts. That's more the sort of stuff you need to worry about really.