Brain Surgeon Salary
Job Description
Brain surgeons (also known as neurologists), diagnose and perform surgery on patients who have conditions that deal with the brain, spinal cord, and surrounding structures and nerves that affect the brain in any way. They must go through at least 14 years of vigorous education, training, and residency in order to even get near a person’s brain. They must have extensive knowledge of the human brain and all factors that can affect the function of it so that they can properly diagnose their patients prior to surgery. On any given day, they can be found either performing surgeries or consulting with patients.
Average Salary Range
The average salary for a brain surgeon living in the United States can range anywhere from $100,000 to upwards of $700,000 per year. The wide-ranging salary scale is caused by many factors, two of which are experience and location.
Experience
Having extensive experience is one of the major factors that affects a brain surgeon’s salary. When a surgeon has finished his required 14 years of education, training, and residency, sometimes he will go back and earn his doctorate. But, in a specialty field like brain surgery, having an extensive education gives the surgeon more understanding of his field.
Also, patients often feel better knowing that the person who has their life is his hands went through a lot of loops in order to be holding that scalpel. In addition, surgeons who have their master’s will earn significantly more money than a person without an advanced education. This also holds true for a surgeon who has been practicing brain surgery for upwards of 20 years compared to a surgeon who has just finished his residency.
Location
Location is another very important factor to take into consideration when analyzing a brain surgeon’s salary. Surgeons who perform their business in a bigger city that has a higher cost of living will earn more money than a surgeon living in a smaller city. This is because everything from food to rent is more expensive in bigger cities, therefore citizens have to be compensated more to be able to survive in the city.
In addition to geographical location, the type of facility where the brain surgeon also determines how much a surgeon makes. In a private practice or hospital, surgeons get paid more because the procedures are more expensive in these facilities than in public hospitals. Brain surgeons get paid by the surgery, and when the surgeries are more expensive, brain surgeons get paid more.