You're a neurosurgery professor at a medical school or residency program — teaching, supervising surgical training, and continuing to operate. Half academic faculty, half practicing neurosurgeon.
Most days tend to involve a blend of operating room teaching, clinic supervision, didactic teaching, and continued surgical practice — walking residents through cases in the OR, supervising clinics and rounds, and continuing your own surgical practice. You'll often spend part of the time on scholarly work that academic neurosurgery expects.
The harder part is often the cumulative demand of carrying clinical neurosurgery alongside teaching and scholarship — neurosurgery volume drives both training quality and personal practice, and the workload is significant. You'll typically work with residents whose readiness develops over years, where supervision is intense and the standards uncompromising.
People who tend to thrive here are technically expert, scholarly, and willing to invest in the long arc of training neurosurgeons. The trade-off is the salary differential between academic and private neurosurgery and the cumulative workload. If you find satisfaction in shaping the next generation of neurosurgeons, the role can carry meaning that pure clinical practice doesn't.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
You're a neurosurgery professor at a medical school or residency program — teaching, supervising surgical training, and continuing to operate. Half academic faculty, half practicing neurosurgeon.
Median pay for a Neurosurgery Professor is about $106K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $52K to $208K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Instructing, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Writing, and Learning Strategies.
Most people in this role hold a master's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 17.3% through 2034, with roughly 229,720 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Health Teacher, First Aid Teacher, and Clinical Instructor.
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