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 tumor’s 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: The probability for me becoming a neurosurgeon would be about 25% the reason why it’s so low is because it takes so much of your life to make it happen and even when you are done with residency and working full time as a neurosurgeon you are on call 24/7 unless you take holidays which interferes with your family time that is if you can find the time to have a family. It’s a life changing decision and even thought I would love to become one, having a family and time to spend with my family is more important. MRT The probability of me becoming an MRT and then after working for a few years as one getting my MRI license is about a 65% chance. The reason I say only 65% is because I still think about teaching however with an MRT you never know what you will be x-raying and you never know what could happen at any given time. With me I need the not knowing aspect because I get bored far to easily and I need to be on my feet at all times in order to like what I’m doing. It wouldn’t be as exciting as a neurosurgeon but it would give you the chance to have a family and be home to spend time with your family which in my mind is very important while having a bit more of an exciting job.

© , 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? -