Neurosurgery

Helen Fernandez
Consultant Neurosurgeon
Addenbrookes Hospital

Even before medical school, I knew I wanted to pursue a surgical career, though it took some time for me to determine exactly which surgical speciality. Perhaps I was influenced by my Orthopaedic Surgeon father, although I was quite sure repairing broken bones was not for me!

Why neurosurgery?

To be honest I think neurosurgery chose me. I spent six months as a neurosurgical SHO and loved it. However, having recently married, I also wanted to have a family. Therefore, felt I should avoid a career in a speciality with such an onerous out-of-hours workload. So, I started training in ear, nose and throat surgery. Almost immediately I found I desperately missed the cut and thrust of neurosurgery- which sustains my interest to this day.

Neurosurgeons deal with a huge variety of illnesses. From those that urgently threaten life and limb to those that cause chronic pain and debility. You need to be able to comfortably manage very sick patients and be able to speak and counsel their relatives with clarity and confidence. Operative stakes are high, but the anatomy is beautiful and constantly challenging. Our knowledge and understanding of neurosurgical disease improves year on year, therefore keeping abreast of new treatments and technologies is challenging, but necessary. Neurosurgery is a pursuit that can be stressful and demanding but it rewards you a hundred times over.

Training:

At present, higher specialist training (HST) is a minimum of six years following on from at least two years in basic specialist training (BST). Further time may be required in research or developing a special interest. During this time, you need to sit the three parts of the Royal College of Surgeons Fellowship Examination - the last part being dedicated to neurosurgery. I started my Higher Specialist Training in January 1994. Three children and one higher degree later, I was appointed as a Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Newcastle in June 2001. A year later, I moved to a consultant post in Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, where I remain today.