Lifestyle: Gen Surg vs NeuroSurg?

[CutIt]

Doesn't General surgery have a comparable/similar lifestyle to neurosurgery (residency and afterwards)? how is orthopedics any different (since they also take trauma call)?

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[CutIt]

I find it hard to believe that nobody has an answer to this question

 

[HessExpress]

I'm no expert, but from what I hear they are about the same.

 

[WatchingWaiting]

What do you mean by "lifestyle?" After finishing residency, you have quite a bit of control over the setting you want to practice in and how many hours a week you want to be working. The big lifestyle difference between general and neuro/ortho is salary, with orthopods and neurosurgeons getting a lot more renumeration.

 

[CutIt]

This is what I figure as welll; however, why does neurosurgery have the rep of being worse than any other specialty?

 

[fourthyear]

Neurosurgery cases tend to be longer and more tedious, whereas ortho and general cases vary from quick, routine 1-hour procedures to some very long involved cases. And neuro has patients with pretty severe problems that can't always be totally fixed no matter how much surgery you do, wheras ortho certainly has lots of fixable problems, and gereral seems to have more fixable problems than neuro as well. These may be some of your answers to why neuro has the reputation as a more stressful lifestyle, although hours are pretty similar and variable depending on where and how much you choose to work regardless of surgical specialty.