Difficulty of residency

[Guest]

You can get 5-6 hours a night even at the busiest programs (just talking about running the service, not +research)

[Guest]

5-6hours a night for 7 years... im sure that includes going to bed right after getting home from work... basically no personal life for the next 7 years... RIP

[Guest]

I know of at least one program in the south where they enforce the 80 hour week and you truly don’t go over it. I’m pretty sure there are other programs as well where this is the case .

[Guest]

I am in the final months of one of the notoriously 'intense' programs that these forums always talk about as operative heavy. I think a lot of people on this thread are probably medical students or junior residents just complaining. While there are definitely hard days in residency, sometimes hard rotations, it is what you make of it. No matter where you are you will work. Some nights you will be off, you will get golden weekends, you will get vacations, you will have short days, and some days you expected to be short turn into long days and you have to cancel stuff in your personal life. Yes in your junior years it can be hard to have a big personal life, this is not just in neurosurgery however. The job is demanding, but its not an eternal hellhole. If you find that you are a balanced, happy person, then you will likely continue to be so during residency. If you find yourself as a pessimist or someone who struggles to find the joy in day to day stuff, it will be bad.

As to finding a partner in residency thats willing to put up with you, thats somewhat true honestly. The advice I got from my med school mentor in neurosurgery was to make sure I married an 'understanding partner'. It does get better the further along you go. But even as an attending, there will be missed bdays/events and cancelled plans, just by the nature of what we do. If you find yourself dating someone who pitches a fit whenever you have to leave to go do an emergent case, its not going to end well. If you find someone who can understand and support you, then you can be a very happily married neurosurgeon even in a busy practice.

So don't get discouraged just because the hours can be tough. There are lots of specialties that work hard too. But be honest with yourself. If it is important for you to hit a few happy hours a week and be off most weekends, or to not have to take care of emergencies in the middle of the night, then neurosurgery is probably not the best fit, and that is totally fine. Just my two cents...

[Guest]

(04-15-2022, 11:10 PM)Guest Wrote: I am in the final months of one of the notoriously 'intense' programs that these forums always talk about as operative heavy. I think a lot of people on this thread are probably medical students or junior residents just complaining. While there are definitely hard days in residency, sometimes hard rotations, it is what you make of it. No matter where you are you will work. Some nights you will be off, you will get golden weekends, you will get vacations, you will have short days, and some days you expected to be short turn into long days and you have to cancel stuff in your personal life. Yes in your junior years it can be hard to have a big personal life, this is not just in neurosurgery however. The job is demanding, but its not an eternal hellhole. If you find that you are a balanced, happy person, then you will likely continue to be so during residency. If you find yourself as a pessimist or someone who struggles to find the joy in day to day stuff, it will be bad.

As to finding a partner in residency thats willing to put up with you, thats somewhat true honestly. The advice I got from my med school mentor in neurosurgery was to make sure I married an 'understanding partner'. It does get better the further along you go. But even as an attending, there will be missed bdays/events and cancelled plans, just by the nature of what we do. If you find yourself dating someone who pitches a fit whenever you have to leave to go do an emergent case, its not going to end well. If you find someone who can understand and support you, then you can be a very happily married neurosurgeon even in a busy practice.

So don't get discouraged just because the hours can be tough. There are lots of specialties that work hard too. But be honest with yourself. If it is important for you to hit a few happy hours a week and be off most weekends, or to not have to take care of emergencies in the middle of the night, then neurosurgery is probably not the best fit, and that is totally fine. Just my two cents...

thanks a lot for this post. as far as partner, honestly, I think only female residents will have this problem. i feel that it shouldn't be too hard for a male neurosurgeon to marry an understanding wife.

[Guest]

Exactly. Any wife would love to have her husband bringing in millions and be bragging to her friends and families about her husband being a brain surgeon. Gg

[Guest]

In my medical school, virtually all the women are angry and aggressive. Even the ones who seem nice at first are quick to anger and aggression if you dare say something they disagree with. I suspect not being able to find a partner is due to being angry and aggressive and feminist--as opposed to long hours.

[Guest]

Residency requires a lot of effort, but it’s not difficult in my opinion. Junior years suck for sure, but being a senior/chief has actually been fun, albeit occasionally frustrating. And the reward is well worth the effort, considering neurosurgery is an amazing field, and I very much love coming into work. The pay is a fantastic, and the respect the field commands (both within medicine and outside of medicine) is a very rewarding feeling. Absolutely worth the effort.

[Guest]

(04-16-2022, 04:30 PM)Guest Wrote: In my medical school, virtually all the women are angry and aggressive. Even the ones who seem nice at first are quick to anger and aggression if you dare say something they disagree with. I suspect not being able to find a partner is due to being angry and aggressive and feminist--as opposed to long hours.

Lol classifying every women in your medical school as angry and aggressive says more about you than it does about them. Chances are, you're sexist and don't realize it yet

[Guest]

(04-16-2022, 05:38 PM)Guest Wrote: Residency requires a lot of effort, but it’s not difficult in my opinion. Junior years suck for sure, but being a senior/chief has actually been fun, albeit occasionally frustrating. And the reward is well worth the effort, considering neurosurgery is an amazing field, and I very much love coming into work. The pay is a fantastic, and the respect the field commands (both within medicine and outside of medicine) is a very rewarding feeling. Absolutely worth the effort.

Very thoughtful comment. How much respect are neurosurgeon residents afforded? I know that residents in general are afforded very little respect, but are neurosurgery residents treated differently?

Thank you