2 answers
Janay
Student
Glendale, Arizona
1
Question
Updated
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How can I start my learning about Neurosurgery and how to start my career up?
As a incoming sophmore in highschool, my biggest dream is to get to college, get my degree, go to med school and begin my journey. I just don't know what steps I will need to take to get that far. What should I start searching up and educating myself on to get to that next step.
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2 answers
Karin P.
Lecturer, Academic Advisor, Career Coach, Mentor
1221
Answers
Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
Updated
Karin’s Answer
Hi Janay,
It's great that you found an interest in a medical career. If you want to be a neurosurgeon, you need to go to medical school to become a medical doctor and then specialize in neurosurgery.
In order to become a doctor, you first need to earn a bachelors degree (4 years) in any field. Next you take the MCAT before you can apply to medical school. Medical school is another 4 years and you'll earn your MD or DO. You then decide on a residency where you specialize and ultimately take the board exam for that specialty. So, it's a long journey, and each step is competitive. You'll need excellent grades and a high MCAT score as well as medical experience and volunteer hours.
Since you are still in high-school and probably contemplating your course choices, you should take all the science and math classes you can get (biology, chemistry, physics, math) to be well prepared for college. If your high-school offers classes related to health such as psychology or anatomy, you should take those as well. It's good to take on challenging classes like AP to boost your GPA. You can also consider a dual enrollment program to earn college credits if it is available.
In order to get into a good undergraduate program and later into medical school, you also need to start getting experience in medical settings and volunteering in the community. People get medical experience in a variety of ways. You can look for shadowing opportunities if you want to consider different medical specialties. You can look for internships, volunteer opportunities or small jobs in e.g. hospitals or with doctors (even if it is just as a receptionist). There are also certifications such as CNA, EMT or phlebotomy that would allow you to work medical jobs while you are in school.
You can major in any field for your bachelors degree. Consider your interests, your career goals but also look at your undergraduate degree as a backup plan in case medical school doesn't happen (because life happens). Many students opt for a biology, chemistry or biochemistry major because it would cover most if not all of the science pre-requisites. Just be aware what the pre-requisites are and that, should you opt for a non-science major, you might need longer to graduate because you might need to take extra classes. Look up medical schools that you would consider and check their admission criteria and pre-requisites so you have the correct information. I left a link for Harvard medical school as an example below.
During your undergraduate studies, you should also get in more medical experience and (if possible) research experience. It doesn't have to be medical research, but being in any science department certainly helps to get involved in meaningful projects.
Before you can apply to medical school, you need to study for and take the MCAT. You can take the test during your junior or senior year. Many students also take a gap year after their bachelors to study for the MCAT and get some more work experience, either clinical or in research. If you opted for a non-science major, a postbac program to complete the science pre-requisites is an option.
If you get admitted to medical school, you'll study general medicine for 4 years. There is no need to know from the start which specialty you want to go for. The first 2 years are mostly classroom learning while the last 2 years are clinical and include rotations through different specialties. You'll then decide on a specialty that you want to pursue and apply for residency in that specialty hoping to "match". The residency for neurosurgery is 7 years. Many neurosurgeons opt for a fellowship for further specialization which can take another 1-2 years.
I hope this helps! All the best to you!
KP
https://hms.harvard.edu/education-admissions/md-program/admissions
https://hms.harvard.edu/education-admissions/md-program/admissions/preparing-apply/prerequisite-courses
https://college.mayo.edu/academics/residencies-and-fellowships/neurologic-surgery-residency-arizona/curriculum/
https://medicine.arizona.edu/neurosurgery/medical-education-program
https://phoenixmed.arizona.edu/neurosurgery-residency
It's great that you found an interest in a medical career. If you want to be a neurosurgeon, you need to go to medical school to become a medical doctor and then specialize in neurosurgery.
In order to become a doctor, you first need to earn a bachelors degree (4 years) in any field. Next you take the MCAT before you can apply to medical school. Medical school is another 4 years and you'll earn your MD or DO. You then decide on a residency where you specialize and ultimately take the board exam for that specialty. So, it's a long journey, and each step is competitive. You'll need excellent grades and a high MCAT score as well as medical experience and volunteer hours.
Since you are still in high-school and probably contemplating your course choices, you should take all the science and math classes you can get (biology, chemistry, physics, math) to be well prepared for college. If your high-school offers classes related to health such as psychology or anatomy, you should take those as well. It's good to take on challenging classes like AP to boost your GPA. You can also consider a dual enrollment program to earn college credits if it is available.
In order to get into a good undergraduate program and later into medical school, you also need to start getting experience in medical settings and volunteering in the community. People get medical experience in a variety of ways. You can look for shadowing opportunities if you want to consider different medical specialties. You can look for internships, volunteer opportunities or small jobs in e.g. hospitals or with doctors (even if it is just as a receptionist). There are also certifications such as CNA, EMT or phlebotomy that would allow you to work medical jobs while you are in school.
You can major in any field for your bachelors degree. Consider your interests, your career goals but also look at your undergraduate degree as a backup plan in case medical school doesn't happen (because life happens). Many students opt for a biology, chemistry or biochemistry major because it would cover most if not all of the science pre-requisites. Just be aware what the pre-requisites are and that, should you opt for a non-science major, you might need longer to graduate because you might need to take extra classes. Look up medical schools that you would consider and check their admission criteria and pre-requisites so you have the correct information. I left a link for Harvard medical school as an example below.
During your undergraduate studies, you should also get in more medical experience and (if possible) research experience. It doesn't have to be medical research, but being in any science department certainly helps to get involved in meaningful projects.
Before you can apply to medical school, you need to study for and take the MCAT. You can take the test during your junior or senior year. Many students also take a gap year after their bachelors to study for the MCAT and get some more work experience, either clinical or in research. If you opted for a non-science major, a postbac program to complete the science pre-requisites is an option.
If you get admitted to medical school, you'll study general medicine for 4 years. There is no need to know from the start which specialty you want to go for. The first 2 years are mostly classroom learning while the last 2 years are clinical and include rotations through different specialties. You'll then decide on a specialty that you want to pursue and apply for residency in that specialty hoping to "match". The residency for neurosurgery is 7 years. Many neurosurgeons opt for a fellowship for further specialization which can take another 1-2 years.
I hope this helps! All the best to you!
KP
Karin recommends the following next steps:
katy denby
28
Answers
Updated
katy’s Answer
I think Karin P gave a great response but also as someone who also was unsure about what I should do and have went through many career ideas, am interested in many things and also in high school Asking here on career village was a good option I did the same thing but I also found it helpful to look up videos on TikTok or YouTube of people who are already in that career but also keep in mind these are different people so it may not be 100% accurate to you but it is good just for an idea of how things might be. Another one is looking it up on google or safari but typing it in different ways because sometimes you can get different answers. Another option is Chatgpt I'm not sure how accurate it is but that is partly how I looked into the career I wanted I did make sure to fact check it on other places to, but it can definitely help.