Daily Schedule Of A Neurosurgeon 

Neurosurgeons will attend to their hospital patients 1-2 times a day and they may also have ICU patients that they will have to manage. Daily orders are given to the nursing staff regarding these patients until they are ready to be discharged or transferred to rehabilitation facilities that will manage the patient further. Neurosurgeons may also be asked to give their opinion on other doctors' patients, such as neurologists or orthopaedic surgeons. 

Neurosurgeons will also be on call for the hospital they work at, to manage emergency cases, and this may occur 1-2 times a week. If a neurosurgeon in on call over the weekend, then they will be responsible for the care of their patients and the patients of their colleagues that have discussed patients with them.

Monday

The neurologist will use a Monday to organise their week. They will go through their surgical lists, finalise patient consultations, make time available for emergency consultations as well as deal with administrative issues such as meetings with hospital management and surgical reps.

Patients consultation is done on this day and further tests and investigations will be done where the patient will be followed up over the next couple of days. Patients could be referred to physiotherapists and/or biokinetisists for conservative therapy, or they may need surgical intervention. These patients will then have a surgical date booked once they have received information about their diagnosis and what surgery needs to be performed.

Tuesday  

Patients will be scheduled for surgery on this day and the neurosurgeon may perform spinal procedures such as discectomies, laminectomies, kyphoplasties or vertebroplasties. These operations may be done as open or minimally-invasive procedures.

These procedures are quite time consuming. Therefore, neurosurgeons may end up performing less surgeries than other disciplines and this will mean that their daily schedule will consist of spending a lot of their time in the operating room.

Wednesday

Wednesdays can also be surgical days where the neurosurgeon may be performing intracranial surgeries such as resecting tumours, fixing cerebrospinal leaks, repairing AVMs and placing VP shunts. Patient investigations will be followed up on a daily basis since a neurosurgeon will see patients that need MRI scans done in order to assess their neurological anatomy.

Thursday

The specialist may consult and manage patients on this day, but may be busy in the operating room. Thursdays can be used to perform peripheral nerve surgeries such as releasing entrapped nerves.  

If the doctor is involved with the academic programme of the neurosurgical department of the local medical school then they may offer training to under- and post-graduates. 

Friday

The mornings are used to perform surgical procedures and the afternoon is then used to sort out any unfinished administrative issues or duties. The neurosurgeon will also check their surgical list in advance for the next week.