Neurosurgeon
🧠Operates on the brain and spinal cord: tumours, aneurysms, spinal injuries. Microscopes, navigation systems and hours-long operations accurate to the millimetre.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $419k a year on average
Surgeons — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £100.2k median a year · 164,000 jobs
Specialist medical practitioners — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI builds 3D models of the brain and suggests the safest route, and robots hold instruments steadier. But the decisions and the operating stay with the neurosurgeon.
Who it suits
Interests: 🩺 Medicine and health, 🧬 Biology, 🔧 Making things by hand, ⚙️ Tech and engineering.
Key strengths: science, manual dexterity, attention to detail, strength and stamina.
Where to study
- Medical degree MBBS / MBChB Medicine (UK, EU), MD (US, after a bachelor's)
- Residency Neurosurgery run-through training ST1–ST8 (UK), 7-year neurosurgery residency (US)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Physics.
🧗 UK: 5–6-year medical degree (chemistry, biology, UCAT), 2 foundation years, 8 years of neurosurgery training. US: bachelor's, MD, 7-year residency. One of the longest routes; medical licence required.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- University of Oxford Oxford · €43k–72.2k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (MAT, PAT, TSA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; medicine takes ≤14 international students/yr - University of Cambridge Cambridge · €33.4k–81.1k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (ESAT, TMUA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; plus college fee £12–14.5k/yr - Imperial College London London · €49.1k–52.3k/yr
A-levels/IB or a recognised foundation; IELTS 6.5–7.0; ESAT/TMUA tests; medicine: UCAT + interview, £58.6k/yr
🇺🇸 United States
- Harvard Medical School Boston
MD after a bachelor's + MCAT; without a US/Canadian degree rarely admitted, needs 1+ year of study in US/Canada - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore
MD after a bachelor's + MCAT; foreign degree needs 1+ year at a US college; TOEFL; prove $76,397 for year one - Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford, CA
MD after a bachelor's + MCAT; internationals need 1+ year at a US/Canadian/UK college; one year of funds before I-20
🇩🇪 Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin · free
Medicine/dentistry: 5% of places for non-EU, via uni-assist, selection by grade only; DSH-2/3 or Goethe C2 by the deadline - Heidelberg University Heidelberg · €3k/yr
Non-EU: €1,500 a semester (Baden-Württemberg); German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); medicine: non-EU quota, selection by grades * - LMU Munich Munich · free
No tuition; DSH-2, TestDaF 4 in all parts, telc C1 Hochschule; without it at least B2 to apply; medicine: non-EU quota
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- University of Amsterdam Amsterdam · €17.5k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year (Diploma finder); IELTS 6.5 (PPLE 7.0); medicine is Dutch-taught, numerus fixus, €34,700 - Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam · €13.5k–32.2k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year; IELTS ≈ 6.5; medicine is Dutch-taught, numerus fixus (400 places), €32,200 - Leiden University Leiden · €14.3k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year; IELTS 6.0–7.0 by programme (International Studies 6.0, LUC 7.0); medicine is numerus fixus
🇫🇷 France
- Sorbonne University Paris · €200–2.9k/yr
DAP, French B2; medicine via PASS/LAS with selection into year 2; waiver of €2,902 under university criteria - Université Paris Cité Paris · €200–2.9k/yr
DAP, B2; 2026/27 moratorium — non-EU pay €178; medicine/pharmacy via PASS/LAS - Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 Lyon · €2.9k/yr
DAP, B2; non-EU pay €2,902 (individual waivers up to 30%); medicine/dentistry via PASS/LAS
🇮🇹 Italy
- University of Milan Milan · €1.1k–4.3k/yr
12 school years; Italian B2 (English B2 for English programmes); programme tests; income abroad: fixed fee by country group - University of Bologna Bologna · €1.2k/yr
English programmes: B2 (some B1), selection by SAT, TOLC-E or CEnT-S; 12 school years. Non-OECD citizens: €1,157 a year - Humanitas University Pieve Emanuele
Medicine in English: own online admission test (March), 50 of 200 places for non-EU
🇪🇸 Spain
- University of Barcelona Barcelona · €1.8k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; many classes in Catalan; non-EU €30/ECTS * - Autonomous University of Madrid Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU pay ≈ 7× more (e.g. €6,823 vs €1,015) - University of Navarra Pamplona · €11.8k–20.4k/yr
Private: own admission process; year 1 €11,750–20,400 (medicine); bilingual/International tracks available
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Charles University (First Faculty of Medicine) Prague · €0–24.3k/yr
Free in Czech (Czech B2, biology/chemistry/physics exam); General Medicine in English €24,250/yr - Masaryk University Brno · €0–16k/yr
Free in Czech; English €2,700–7,500/yr (Informatics €4,500), Medicine CZK 380,000; Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams - Palacký University Olomouc Olomouc · €0–14k/yr
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams); in English: Medicine €12,500, Dentistry €14,000/yr
Things to know
🩸 Blood and medical procedures🌙 Night shifts and on-call📚 Studying 6+ years🕯️ Grief, death, hard life stories
Similar careers
Not sure what to choose?
A ~100-question quiz builds your interest profile and matches you with careers and universities in Europe, the UK and the US.
Take the quiz →Scales are expert estimates; tuition and admission rules are for 2026/27 from official sources — always check the university website.