Medical Medicine?

Before you can get into a neurosurgery residency, you’ll need to get into medical school, and do REALLY well there. MCAT scores are for getting into medical school – after that, nobody cares.

Before you attempt an application to medical school, learn the difference between “excepted” and “accepted”. Details count in medicine, especially in neurosurgery.

Neurosurgery is a relatively competitive specialty to get into. This is due to the small number of positions available. The number of spots varies slightly from year to year, but is usually around 170 or so in allopathic programs. (MDs graduate from allopathic schools, DOs from osteopathic). There are some DO programs, but not nearly as many. Those who graduate from DO schools can apply to MD residencies, though they have a low rate of getting in. MDs cannot apply to DO programs because of different licensing requirements. MD programs are generally more highly regarded than DO programs.

As others have correctly stated, your MCAT score doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not you get into residency. I don’t even remember it being on the application, though I may have just forgotten about it. The most important test score is the score from step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). The average score on this test among all medical students is usually around 215 and the average that has matched in neurosurgery has been around 235 for the last few years (approximately one standard deviation above the average of all students). However, a strong score on step 1 is only part of what most people who match into neurosurgery have in their applications. The test score is kind of a way to get your foot in the door. If you have the test score, the most important thing after that is probably letters of recommendation from academic neurosurgeons. Most who successfully get into neurosurgery have some experience in research as well, and perform at a high level during their clinical rotations in medical school.

Just to correct an above poster, in the US neurosurgery is its own residency – not a fellowship to be completed after a surgical residency. The first year after medical school is spent as a surgical intern and you would enter neurosurgical residency in the second year after medical school. Most programs are 6 years (for a total of 7 after medical school), though there are a handful that are 5 and a few that are 8 or more. The difference comes in the amount of time set aside for research during residency. It is also possible to complete fellowship training after residency to subspecialize in areas such as pediatric or cerebrovascular neurosurgery.