wow

[drbruce]

Wow! Neurosurgery is considered a very competitive speciality in the US, yet compared to countries like Britain, the stats say otherwise.

828 new students every year, that is impressive and 85% of applicants are successful. Wow!

In Britain you have to be a genius to be a neurosurgeon, with plenty of research experience and luck!

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[medgator]

I would guess that there is a fair amount of self-selection that goes into the process. Most people won't go for it unless they have the package to back it up. That's probably true for most competitive specialties (ENT, rad onc, ortho, NS, uro, derm etc.) The people I know in NS are incredibly capable and intelligent.

 

[Blake]

Totally different situation in Canada. I can't say NS particularly attracts ''top of the class'' applicants, but there are bright and dedicated folks in every field of medicine, NS included. For the last 4-5 years, the match rates for Canadian seniors hovered around 90 % (it was 100 % a few years ago ), and even this doesn't quite reveal the real portrait of the level of competition.

I've talked to residents at my home program and a few other CA programs, and they're all basically telling me matching should be the least of my worries. Instead I have to make sure I want to go in a field with lots of sacrifices (malpractice, work hours, decreasing reimbursement, etc) and few rewards initially. I mean, most interviews are turning into programs trying to sell themselves to you, and some top programs go as far as taking IMGs to fill their spots... You can match just fine with 1 elective and no pubs here (you may not be accepted to Toronto with this, but not everyone wants to go there anyway)

This isn't limited to NS. Cardiac surgery and, to a lesser extent, ortho have similar match rates...

 

[drbruce]

Very interesting post... if you train in NS in Canada, can you work in the States upon graduates without repeating the neurosurgical residency?

 

[Blake]

Very interesting post... if you train in NS in Canada, can you work in the States upon graduates without repeating the neurosurgical residency?

Yes, but I don't think that's the majority of cases. I think canadian-trained neurosurgeons aren't board-eligible/certified in the USA ever since 1997. Prior to this, lots of Canadians were board-certified in the USA and practiced there (not totally sure, but I think up to 1/3 of canadian residents ended up south of the border). When the USA shut its doors to most canadian graduates, there was instantly an overload of neurosurgeons in the country (some say this situation still exists, others say it's plain BS), and this scared a lot of med students and deterred them from even considering NS. People predicted headlines such as '' Spine neurosurgeon working at Mcdonald's : the latest trend in canadian medicine ''.

Anyway, most programs now have drastically reduced their residency spots to make sure the above scenario would never happen. Places like Toronto used to take up to 6-10 NS interns on a good year, now it's around 3-4 a year. My home program used to take 2 a year, now they take 1 resident every 2 years, so I'm either leaving this place (much to my chagrin) or spending an extra year in a lab to stay here...

I digress. Back to your original question, yes it's possible to practice in the USA as a canadian-trained surgeon without repeating residency, but you'll be facing an uphill battle. Some states/hospitals will require you to be board-certified, and it will be very difficult to practice there. I can't tell you much more, for I have no particular desire of practicing in the USA and I'm only a 3rd year student. Your question will be better answered by people who know the american system. I hope that somehow helped you.