Neurosurgery

Dr. Hamilton assists medical students interested in pursuing neurosurgical careers.

Plan for 3 sub-I rotations, with the first being at UNC-Chapel Hill. There are guidelines from the SNS to cap at 2 away rotations; some PD’s will judge applicants who do not comply with these instructions. Beyond neurosurgery, you should take the opportunity to bolster your knowledge in tangential areas that will benefit you. Think: neuroradiology, neuropathology, neuro ICU, palliative care…anything that could teach you skills you can utilize within neurosurgery.

See above.

You must do an away rotation in neurosurgery, most students will complete multiple (two recommended by the SNS).

Unequivocally yes.

As soon as you consider neurosurgery, we should talk. Come prepared with your CV, any boards results, and some idea of what you want out of a career. We can figure out together if neurosurgery will help you achieve your career goals, and whether it’s a reasonable pathway to pursue.

There is a standardized letter for neurosurgery, so that should come from the UNC Chair/PD; you should also expect to get a letter from each away rotation. If you have a close clinical or research mentor, they would be an appropriate letter writer. Expect to have 3-4 letters in total.

Letters should be in by the time ERAS opens; plan to give your letter writers 4 weeks minimum to complete (flexible for the away rotations). Prepare your letter writers by providing your CV and a brief statement on why neurosurgery/what your career goals are. Share any specific attributes you would strongly desired mentioned (short bullet point list). If your personal statement for ERAS is complete, share this as well.

Consider your career goals and current CV – look for residency programs where alumni go on to the kind of practice you desire. Look for current junior residents with similar qualifications (number and impact of publications, whether the whole cohort is MD-PHD, etc). Look at how the curriculum is structured – if you have no desire for basic science research, applying to a program with required benchwork doesn’t make sense. Do you have strong preferences for program size? Geography? Anything else that really won’t be malleable once there.

YES: grants, USMLE scores. NO: papers accepted for publication.

A gentle email reminder to your letter writers is appropriate, assuming you haven’t done this in the last week.

Reach out to your mentors to ask if they have any contacts at the program of interest who can advocate on your behalf. You can even do this while making your list as many programs fill their schedule fast – it is okay to ask mentors to reach out on your behalf before interviews are even offered.

See above.

Up to you. In the current era of electronics, fewer people send them. That said, it is quite easy to send a thank you email to the chair and the administrative coordinator who put the interview together.

No.

You can choose to not respond. You may also send a brief acknowledgement of the correspondence and convert this into an opportunity to express your thanks. Clearly, all rules of the match must be observed.

There’s no sugar-coating the fact that neurosurgery is competitive. You need stellar academics (more honors than otherwise, AOA status helps), multiple publications (first author, peer reviewed), grant or research award recipients, community service, strong letters of recommendation. Every program will have a different prioritization of attributes, thus not every student will be the “perfect match” for every program. Play to your strengths when you select your programs.