01-18-2024, 11:26 PM
I am a third-year US MD student and am committed to applying neurosurgery. I will preface my question by saying that I am not asking this because I am lazy or don't like to work. I believe am in fact the opposite, and have been grinding hard since MS-1 year to develop a competitive CV and have done so quite successfully.
That said, I was diagnosed and treated for cancer in 2019. 80% of recurrence of my cancer occurs within 3 years and the 5-year survival rate is around 65%. I've been in the clear so far and I'll be at the 5-year mark this November. I saw my oncologist recently for my routine monitoring and when I said I was applying neurosurgery, she was very opposed to the idea. She wanted me to "choose the least competitive program in the least competitive specialty" (i.e. the polar opposite of neurosurgery) because supposedly the stress will make my cancer recur, and the 5-year survival of my cancer recurrence is something like 12%.
At this point, I'm not going to not pursue neurosurgery because of my history of illness, but I don't think I should wantonly ignore my unique health situation and risk. As such, what are some residency programs that are known for being more relaxed/less stressful (e.g. good culture, not malignant, greater APP support, more relaxed call schedule, no post-call, unionized, etc)?
That said, I was diagnosed and treated for cancer in 2019. 80% of recurrence of my cancer occurs within 3 years and the 5-year survival rate is around 65%. I've been in the clear so far and I'll be at the 5-year mark this November. I saw my oncologist recently for my routine monitoring and when I said I was applying neurosurgery, she was very opposed to the idea. She wanted me to "choose the least competitive program in the least competitive specialty" (i.e. the polar opposite of neurosurgery) because supposedly the stress will make my cancer recur, and the 5-year survival of my cancer recurrence is something like 12%.
At this point, I'm not going to not pursue neurosurgery because of my history of illness, but I don't think I should wantonly ignore my unique health situation and risk. As such, what are some residency programs that are known for being more relaxed/less stressful (e.g. good culture, not malignant, greater APP support, more relaxed call schedule, no post-call, unionized, etc)?