May 6 th 2011 Grade 12 Applied Math Research Project By James Wigley

Neurosurgeon Medical Radiologic Technologist (MRT)

A Neurosurgeon is someone who has gone through the specific training to specialize in brain or spinal surgery. The most common type or surgery for Neurosurgeons is spinal surgery. These surgeons work lots of hours with shifts that can last as long as 48 hours. It is one of the hardest areas of surgery to get into and once in most don’t make it to the end of their residency.

A Medical Radiology Technologist or MRT for short is the person who takes your X-Rays, CT Scans or MRI Scans. This person usually spends his or her day interacting with patients and explaining what they will be doing as far as diagnostics goes and why it’s needed. After this they proceed with the certain diagnostic technology chosen by the physician.

Neurosurgeon: To become a Neurosurgeon it takes anywhere from 16 to 20 years. It takes 4 years in a pre-med program, after this you apply to a medical school where you take an additional 4 years to get your MD degree. After obtaining your MD you apply to a teaching hospital where you take anywhere from 6-8 years residency where you steer off into the direction of surgery you want to go into. For Neuro it can take an additional 2 years of residency after the 8 you have already done depending on if you want to be able to do procedures on specific things such as tumor’s on the spinal cord, or tumors in the brain. It takes a lot of practice and hard work but people I have talked to that are surgeons say it’s well worth the journey. MRT: To become an MRT you have to take a year of university where you study courses such as Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Anatomy, and Mathematics. After this you have to apply to a college that has the program such as Red River in Winnipeg. The program is a 2 year diploma program and allows you to be in a hospital, working in the diagnostic center for up to 5 months. Once you have your degree you have to write and exam that allows you to work in a hospital or clinic as an MRT. There is also an additional 1-2 year course you can do which gives you a certificate that allows you to run CT machines and MRI machines. All in all it can take your anywhere from 3-5 years in total.

Emotional stress is a huge part of being a surgeon of any degree. There is doctor patient relationships that form over time along with the fact that you could lose the human being that’s on your surgical table at any moment during the procedure and not know why. Statistically saying more than 80% of hospitals have a therapist in them mainly for the surgeons to talk to if needed. The reason behind this is because would you want your surgeon to be thinking about anything else other than your surgery? Although most would not think it emotional stress can be big in MRT’s lives It could come from a MRI scan that reveals a malignant tumor that in a few months is going to kill the patient or it could come from a scan that shows nothing however the doctor is telling you there is something wrong. No matter what job you have there will always be stress however in these two cases it is defiantly clear that a Neurosurgeon will have more emotional stress then a MRT.

For Neurosurgeons the salary ranges from about $300,000 to about $900,000 after residency. The average is about $550,000 As for a MRT the starting salary is about $54,000 and a high salary being about $93,000. The average is about $68,000 to $72,000.

Neurosurgeon: For me to become a neurosurgeon once I graduated I would have to retake my math and sciences. As of now I have taken biology science and applied math. In order to become a neurosurgeon I need biology, chemistry, and physics for sciences and pre-calculus for math. This wouldn’t be to hard to do however it would take at least an extra year of high school as well as a lot of studying and devoted time. Another potential problem with this is that once I have done all the work to have the schooling to become a neurosurgeon the chances of getting into a neurosurgery program in Canada can be very hard due to how competitive the program is. MRT For me to become an MRT I would need to get my physics grade 11 and 12. This would be more easily done then trying to get two sciences and math for the neurosurgery. At Brandon University where I have already been accepted I can take a bridge course in physics that runs over the course of two terms at what the call 090 level which is equivalent to a grade 11 and 12 course mixed together. This would be easier because I already have to take a few medical courses through Brandon University before I can apply to the Red River College for their MRT program. Although to get into the Red River College is difficult for the MRT course due to the high waiting list it’s not as difficult to get into as a neurosurgery program.

Overall after gathering the information that I have about the two careers I can see me being a MRT before a neurosurgeon. Both have pros and cons however the more suitable choice for me is MRT. This is because of how stressful a neurosurgeon is through out their daily routines, how they have to give up at least 16 years of their lives for schooling, and how with choosing this type of career for me it would be giving up so much more that I would want such as a family and a home I can actually be at regularly instead of have the hospital as my home. When I weigh the pros and cons of each the clear and proper choice for me is to become a MRT.

© , Oregon Health & Science University - What Is Neurosurgery- SAIT Polytechnic Avenue NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2M 0L4 Copyright 2006 SAIT Polytechnic - Medical Radiologic Technology - by Keith A. Johnson, M.D., Harvard Medical School – X-Rays, MRI How much schooling is needed for Neurosurgery – Unknown author - Interview with a Neurosurgeon – Job Shadow, Show real peoples jobs online - How much money does a neurosurgeon earn? - Unknown Author By Rhonda Campbell, eHow Contributor - How Much Does a Radiologic Technician Make? -