In this episode of Surgical Crossroads, the podcast ventures into the high-stakes world of neurosurgery with guests William Taylor, Aditaya Kumar, and Sanskrithi Sravanam. Consultant William Taylor shares insights from his 35-year career, reflecting on the evolution of neurosurgical training and his shift from spinal to skull base surgery. Aditaya, a senior trainee in Glasgow, explores the intricate approaches to skull base pathologies and draws philosophical parallels to surgical practice. Sanskrithi, an FY1 doctor with international exposure and a passion for diversity, offers a fresh perspective from the early stages of training.
The episode emphasizes neurosurgery’s competitiveness, the value of diverse skills like music or sport, and the necessity of genuine passion to thrive in such a demanding specialty.
Hosted by Greg Ekatah, Sesi Hotonu and Sadie Khwaja produced and directed by Heather Pownall of Heather's Media Hub Ltd.
Introducing the topic and guests for this episode.
[Sadie Khwaja – William Taylor] So should we start with you, William, just tell us about who you are, and where you're based at the moment and what it's like being a consultant in neurosurgery.
[SK – WT] What kind of skill set would you need to be a neurosurgeon?
[SK – WT] Give us an example of a week in your work life.
[SK – WT] Have you read Henry Marsh's book, ‘Do No Harm’? Do you think it was representative of neurosurgery? What's your take?
[SK – WT] As you say, it's very high stakes surgery, isn't it? You know, one little slip can have consequences for life. How did you switch off? What's your way of coping?
[SK - Sanskrithi Sravanam] You've had a listen to Bill telling us what the outcome of being a consultant neurosurgeon is. Where do you stand? What's your feelings about what you've listened to?
[SK – SS] Have you taken some first steps? What kind of experiences have you gained?
[Sesi Hotonu – Aditaya Kumar] It's no secret that [neurosurgery] is a competitive specialty. If a person were applying today for neurosurgical training, how competitive is it?
[SH – AK] It's similar in paediatric surgery that there's few places, and you basically just go where you're told. What sort of impact does that have on the trainee’s decision to go into neurosurgery and indeed, training in neurosurgery?
[SH – AK] And the training pathway, is it direct from F2? Or is that competitive entry at ST3?
[SH – AK] What did your CV look like at the time and what sorts of things should people be looking to add from medical school years onwards?
[SH – AK] What's your day-to-day life like, or more like week-to-week life?
[ SH – AK] Is this the sort of specialty where as a registrar, even indeed, as a more senior clinician, you can do your on-call from home most of the time, or are you in hospital for about 24 hours?
[ SH – AK] What does work-life balance look like? Do you have one?
[SH – AK] What are the opportunities for flexible working and time-out-of-programme in neurosurgery? Is it quite well supported?
[SH – AK] Is it a requirement in neurosurgery to do research? Is there kind of an unwritten rule that you don't get the consultant post without some extra letters behind your name?
[SH – AK] Is there a lot of diversity within neurosurgery, especially the male : female ratio? What's that like?
[SH – AK] What's it like in terms of numbers of people vying for consultant jobs who are very competitive? And the second thing is, would you have to do a fellowship to develop your sub-specialist interests more before going into consultancy?
[SK – WT] What do you think the future is like in neurosurgery? And how do we help Aditaya, who is near approaching the end [of his training] and wants to have a job in Glasgow?
[SK – WT] So for Sanskrithi, who's still I'm hoping wanting to do neurosurgery and not being put off! What should she be doing? Is there a society that she should join? Or is there a guiding path you could offer?
[SK – WT] And if we just speed up into the future, where's neurosurgery heading? Where would you see neurosurgery in 10 years?
[SH – AK] Now just a bit of fun ... Addy, what is your favourite operation? And why?
[SH – WT] Do you really have people playing instruments or singing or something while you operate?
[SH – SS] What is your favourite part of the brain?
