A neurosurgeon is a physician who specialises in surgeries of the nervous system, usually focusing on the brain. The career path to becoming a neurosurgeon can be a long but rewarding one. Below you will find the steps which must be undertaken to become a neurosurgeon.

First, you will need to obtain a medical degree and back it up with provisional registration from the General Medical Council. You will follow this by later applying for full registration. After this you will start your on the job training: each job you’ll have will be around 6 months in duration. You will train in a wide variety of medical areas for a total of two years.

Following that, you will apply for training posts. Training for a neurosurgeon in the UK normally lasts for about eight years, with the stages of training identified as ST1 through ST8. The usual time to sit for your specialty board exam in neurosurgery is upon completion of ST6. The MRCS examination will be taken every two or three years during training.

After you have passed the specialty board examination in neurosurgery, and you’ve been evaluated as able to complete training, you may begin applying for positions. The process of applying for positions involves having your name on the specialist register: this will allow you to apply for and secure a position in the field.

After you have applied for and been given a consultant job in neurosurgery, you will be a practising neurosurgeon. Even though you’ve completed neurosurgeon training at this point, it is expected that training will continue, in a less formal way, throughout your medical career.