How to Succeed in a Career in Neurosurgery

A neurosurgeon details seven ways to have a successful career in medicine and neurosurgery.

Having worked at an academic medical center for over 15 years, I’ve taught and interacted with hundreds of aspiring medical professionals. During this time, I’ve learned a few lessons of my own that I often pass on to my mentees and students as best practices for succeeding in a career in neurosurgery and medicine.  

Here are some lessons I’ve learned over the course of my career: 

1. Pick a field that is unknown and inspiring to you. 

One insight I’ve gained from a career in neurosurgery is how important and inspiring it is to work in a field that has some unknowns that allow scientific discoveries. This helps you get excited about your work. The brain is one of the most intriguing and unknown organs in the body. We’re just starting to understand it, so it’s a really fascinating field to work in. Technology and information involving the brain is evolving so quickly, and we’re learning new things every day.  

2. When you’re chasing something important to you, the specificities of your position matter less. 

The world of medicine is changing. But what remains constant is your passion. If you’re doing something you love, the exact setting in which you’re doing it or the hours you spend doing it start to matter a little less. If you’re doing something you truly enjoy, it’s very easy to keep going. We’re in a field where we help people, which is very rewarding in itself. If you can combine that with technical excellence, you are going to feel even more fulfilled. 

3. Understand what you’ll be doing on a day-to-day basis in your role. 

Many of the specialties of medicine, although they may sound similar, actually have quite different day-to-day tasks. You might be doing a lot of research in one role versus spending the whole day in an operating room in another. It’s important you understand what makes you happy and fulfilled when choosing a career path.  

4. Understand who you are and what makes you happy and intellectually fulfilled, and plan your career out in that manner. 

There are two types of people in medicine. The first is a person who really likes to focus on a narrow field of medicine or science, understanding a particular set of diseases in great depth and becoming an expert at that. There’s a second type of person who really likes to be able to treat a wide breadth of diseases and understand medicine at a broad, high level. I’ve found myself to be the former. I’m the most comfortable when I really understand the subset of disease processes and surgeries I focus on. But some people prefer to be more general. It’s best to understand who you are and what makes you happy and intellectually fulfilled, and then plan your career out in that manner. Most of us just want to help people. You can do that in each of these fields and in any medical setting.  

5. Find a good mentor. 

Allowing yourself to observe and to work with strong mentors throughout your career really allows you to find a path that’s attractive and right for you. That opens a lot of doors and shows you how you can be a successful physician or surgeon in any setting or practice.  

6. If you’re unhappy, pivot. 

It’s challenging if you’re in a position that’s not meeting the focus or breadth that you want. My advice on that is to make the change. There are opportunities to pivot or do different things. We’ve all evolved our careers over time. For example, I’ve gone from a more general to specialized practice.  

7. Treat each patient like you would your family. 

Treat each patient as if they were your family member or your loved one. Try to do right by every patient. If you’re working your hardest to do the best that you can, things tend to work out well for both the patient and the situation. Spending time with the patient and their family to explain things and let them participate in their care goes a really long way. A patient who can help participate in making the important decisions is a much happier and more understanding patient. 

About William J. Mack, MD 

William J. Mack, MD, is chair of the USC Neurological Surgery Program, part of Keck Medicine of USC. As chair, Mack oversees day-to-day operations while advancing the program’s prominence and impact. Mack’s major areas of clinical interest are stroke, brain aneurysms, subarachnoid hemorrhage, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), arteriovenous fistulas, cavernous malformations, carotid artery disease, intracranial stenosis and brain tumors. His NIH-funded translational research in cerebrovascular disease has yielded more than 220 peer-reviewed publications. 

The doctors at the USC Neurological Surgery Program offer expert surgical care for many neurological conditions, including epilepsy, movement disorders, brain and spine tumors, trigeminal neuralgia and neurovascular disorders. 

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