I admit I am in a bit of an internal conflict. I have always loved the brain and been completely fascinated by the procedures in neurosurgery. I have been driven to it since picking up my first book on neuroscience in my freshman year in college. However, as I got into medical school, I have since been dissuaded from the path because of the lifestyle associated with it. Most people (not in medical field) tell me that it is not conducive to a family life (even post residency) and I will eventually become completely burnt out by the complexity of procedures, lawsuits, and grueling work-life balance.
I have since been pursuing otolaryngology fairly hard with a focus on either facial plastics or neurotology (I am leaning toward neurotology for obvious reasons). I have been to some ENT department grand rounds and always find myself interested in the schwanomas and neurotology cases. I feel like this is an obvious sign that I will always truly love neurosurgery, and may end up regretting not looking into it further in the future.
So, I am doing my due diligence now before I need to make a decision (I am entering as an MS2). I want to know from people in the field--is this all really true? Is life after residency (I know residency for any surgical specialty is somewhat of a nightmare) really that bad? Can I not have a good work-life balance with this field? Will I be more likely to become burnt out?
And yes...I know matching is super difficult already. However, I am currently doing an auditory and vestibular neuroscience fellowship which covers both ENT and neurosurgery in my opinion. I also am a very good test taker and will study extremely hard for the boards for either ENT or neurosurgery.
I have since been pursuing otolaryngology fairly hard with a focus on either facial plastics or neurotology (I am leaning toward neurotology for obvious reasons). I have been to some ENT department grand rounds and always find myself interested in the schwanomas and neurotology cases. I feel like this is an obvious sign that I will always truly love neurosurgery, and may end up regretting not looking into it further in the future.
So, I am doing my due diligence now before I need to make a decision (I am entering as an MS2). I want to know from people in the field--is this all really true? Is life after residency (I know residency for any surgical specialty is somewhat of a nightmare) really that bad? Can I not have a good work-life balance with this field? Will I be more likely to become burnt out?
And yes...I know matching is super difficult already. However, I am currently doing an auditory and vestibular neuroscience fellowship which covers both ENT and neurosurgery in my opinion. I also am a very good test taker and will study extremely hard for the boards for either ENT or neurosurgery.