|
The
Brains Behind the Brain Surgery
Ever
thought about finding a lucrative, fulfilling, high-status profession
far beyond the reach of the average man or woman? Ever thought about
brain surgery? Well, think again.
A neurosurgeon
studies for an absolute minimum of 14 years before being legally
qualified to poke inside someone's head. But even after four years
pre-med, four years MD and six years of residency, many neurosurgical
candidates cram in a two-year master's degree and follow their residency
with a one- to two-year subspecialty fellowship, if not significant
Ph.D. research in neuroscience. And if you think that's a long haul
as an impoverished student, try doing it while all your med school
buddies are living large on GP salaries.
On the
flip side, the patient having his or her head examined probably
feels better knowing that the guy wielding the knife put in 20 years
for the privilege. But 20 years...isn't that a bit much?
"Absolutely
not," says Dr. Deon Louw, FRCS, a practicing neurosurgeon since
1994. "We need that kind of double-Darwinian selection process so
only the strongest survive. You don't want the unskilled fiddling
with peoples brains."
In Dr.
Louw's experience, becoming a good neurosurgeon isn't about being
the smartest guy in the room, which is well nigh impossible anyway
when all your peers are mental giants. "It's not just about scholarship.
People don't realize the strenuous physical demands of the job.
It's common to put in long hours in the OR, standing very still,
performing delicate technical tasks with every ounce of dexterity
you can muster. That takes stamina."
So what
makes neurosurgery a dream job? "The rewards are great. To make
a diagnostic home run in this highly competitive arena is enormously
self-validating. Finding you've developed 24-carat fingers performing
a particular procedure over time is truly satisfying. And just imagine
the life-changing results one can achieve with patients. The gratification
of shaking the hand of someone who was formerly paralyzed is incomparable."
Add on
the fact that neurosurgery is one of the most prestigious and highly
paid professions in existence (you could become a millionaire),
and maybe 20 years isn't so long after all. "Certainly the upper
echelons of the profession enjoy great status and wealth," agrees
Dr. Louw, "but that's attainable faster and easier in other branches
of medicine, and at far lower personal cost."
For Dr.
Louw, the critical difference in choosing neurosurgery was the philosophical
implications. "Everything that's interesting about humans, from
a Brahms' symphony to weapons of mass destruction, is a function
of the brain. To delve in, to try and dissect the complexities of
the mind without having a higher intelligence than we have, that's
formidable. We don't call the heart, or the colon, the seat of the
soul. It's the brain. Can you conceive of anything more fulfilling
than trying to crack the code of the final frontier?"
Check
out Salary.com's Millionaire
Maker to see how long it will take you to become a millionaire
on a brain surgeon's salary.
-
Audrey Arkins, Salary.com Contributor
| 
