Neurological surgery, or neurosurgery for short,  

is concerned with surgical interventions of  the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves.

To become a neurosurgeon, you must complete  a 7-year neurosurgery residency program after  

medical school which often includes  one year of dedicated research time.  

This is the longest residency program,  start to finish, out of any specialty.

In terms of competitiveness, neurosurgery is  

consistently ranked among the top 5 most  competitive specialties to match into,  

meaning you’ll need high Step  scores and plenty of research.

The median salary for neurosurgeons is $680,000  

per year making it consistently one of  the top three highest-paid specialties,  

duking it out with orthopedic surgery and  plastic surgery for the number 1 spot.

That being said, neurosurgery is known  for having one of the most challenging  

lifestyles of any specialty, even beyond  residency. In addition, the patients you  

treat as a neurosurgeon are often very sick,  meaning that poor outcomes are not uncommon.

If you can get past those aspects of neurosurgery,  however, you’ll get the privilege of working on  

arguably the most fascinating and mysterious  organ of the body–the brain–and get to work  

in one of the few specialties where you truly  have the opportunity to save someone’s life.