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Harman Bhinder
Joan Dudley
English 101- 4017
11-10-15
Neurosurgeon
The career I have chosen is to be a neurosurgeon. This career has a long, and challenging
path. You need eight years of schooling, one year as an intern, then 6-8 years as a resident. Then
a board examination, but to get there you need to pass the intern exam after the one year
internship. After all of those steps one can finally be a board certified neurosurgeon. This career
requires high skilled people who are precise with their hands, and prepared mentally. Their goal
is to save lives, and prevent other medical phenomenon from happening. Neurosurgeons in
particular are trained in the brain, and the nervous system.
This job takes place in hospitals, private practices, and in humanitarian aid locations. It
all just depends on the goals of the surgeon, and what their beliefs are. Along with that surgeons
have extremely good benefits, according to a CompHelath job posting in Montana. One can
receive state of the art equipment, lucrative pay, full insurance, and paid vacations.(Neurological
Surgery Physician) The tools used by surgeons vary. The basic tools are scrubs, gloves, scalpels,
drills, and needles. Neurosurgeons use many different tools according to Popular Mechanics
some tools are, a guidance system, blunt-tip probe, suction tube, neurological drill, and a cutting
bit.( Wagenberg) The guidance system is a computer system that safely guides them to the
affected area in the brain.(Wagenberg) A blunt-tip probe adjusts the crosshairs on a computer, so
surgeons can precisely go to the damaged area.(Wagenberg) A suction tube is a vacuum that clear
fluids, and small tumors.(Wagenberg) The neurological drill is a drill for the skull. It will only
drill as long as it meets solid resistance. So when it fully goes through the bone in the skull it

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stops preventing unwanted damage to the patients brain.(Wagenberg) The cutting bit is a circular
drill that works from the inside of the skull, it prevents the protective membrane from being
damaged along with the brain.(Wagenberg) All surgeons work along the same time table. They
work Monday through Friday, or have varying five day schedules. They also work on-call. They
work on-call in case of an immediate surgical emergency. The entry level salary for a
neurosurgeon according to the Occupational Job Handbook is 187,200 dollars. (Surgeons, and
Physicians) All surgeons sign contracts to work for certain hospitals, the better they are the more
hospitals want them. In turn the more wages they are offered for their service. Over the course of
the next 10 years the job outlook for neurosurgeons is 18 percent in growth. (Surgeons, and
Physicians)
To reach this goal in life one needs a lot of extensive education, and training. To start one
needs a Bachelors degree in a science discipline. They need to maintain higher than a 3.8 G.P.A.
through college, along with that one has to volunteer in things, like a soup kitchen or something
that brings aid to people. During their junior year of college they need to take the Medical
College Admission Test, or MCAT for short. One needs to score high on that, which also requires
weeks of studying. After that step they apply to medical schools. There are more steps, but those
steps depend on the school. Some ask one to write a paper on why they want to go there. Or they
may have to intern under a doctor, and based on his or her word they may or may not get
accepted. Med school admission is very difficult, according to the University Of Nevada Reno,
School Of medicine. Only 70 to 72 students are accepted per year. (Admissions) That is a lot of
competition. When one is finally are accepted they learn more applied sciences for the next two
years, their final two years are hands on work, mainly on cadavers, Which are peoples bodies
donated to medicine, which in turn help all the students learn. When one finally graduates from
med school they get placed into a program for the specialty they chose. They do their general

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internship for one year, take their examination. Then one moves on to residency. Residency can
be anywhere from three to eight years depending on your specialty. For a neurosurgeon it is eight
years. In those eight years one learns about the specialty they chose specialty, and receive hands
on training on a real patient. All under the watchful eye of the neuro attending, or maybe even
the hospitals head of neurosurgery. Once those eight long years have passed one must take a
board examination. Which is simply you sitting in front of two certified neurosurgeons, as they
give a surgical scenario. That you right there and then, step by step tell them the procedure, and
how the task will be tackled. Based on the responses to these scenarios, test scores, and along
with ones willingness to learn on their own, they can become board certified. Also they are
already board certified as a general surgeon before they jump into a specialty.
Job satisfaction is very high as a neurosurgeon. Those who go through the process of
becoming a surgeon are highly advised to make sure that this is something that they love, not
something that they are doing just for the financial aspect of it. Along with being a great career
you are a beneficial person to society which further makes one feel satisfied with the job. It does
also come with its drawbacks, high stress, long stressful education, and low job flexibility. This
is why people are told to only do this if they truly have a passion for it. In the end it all becomes
worth it. Sometimes those drawbacks may be too much for some people, but if one has a dream
to help people you should do the most to make it a reality.
This has been my dream for as long as I could remember. I always wanted to be a doctor
of some sort. Along the way I found a keen fascination in the brain, and how it functions. Not to
long after that I found an interest in surgical medicine. This job will be a satisfying one, although
there are drawbacks. Those drawbacks might deter some people from surgical medicine, but not
me. Looking at it from the bigger perspective the drawbacks are small, compared to the overall
mission. My next path in this journey is completing my regular college career with a Bachelors

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in Neuroscience from the University of Nevada Reno. I will achieve this dream, and make it into
a reality.

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Works Cited
"Admissions."Admissions and Student Affairs. University of Nevada School of
Medicine. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.
"Neurological Surgery Physician."CompHealth Jobs. CompHealth. Web. 9 Nov.
2015.
"Surgeons, and Physicians."Occupational Job Handbook. U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.
Wagenberg, Melissa. "This Is My Job- Neurosurgeon."Popular Mechanics. 13
Dec. 2005. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.