Looking over my application this year, I would say that I fall somewhere in the middle in terms of the top 4-5 accademic factors which are generally deal makers or breakers in the neurosurgery applicant pile. I feel that the one area I really have excelled in is first author research articles (meaning high number and high impact factor), accepted abstracts and lastly but most importantly neurosurgery device patents or ideas. One of the things which originally attracted me to neurosurgery was the realization that it was a fertile field for fresh ideas and technology design. Combining this with a strong understanding of neuroscience and engineering has really driven me to put forward several ideas which I think could help quite a few patients and improve the quality of neurosurgical care in the foreseeable future. One of my ideas has recently passed incubator stage and I am finishing up proof of concept in a lab with several engineers. If all goes well the hope is that it could potentially reach clinical trials in the next 2 years. I have quite a few other ideas for neurosurgery which I’m eager to get off the ground. My question is, considering the current economic situation for departments now what role will this factor, which I think has largely been neglected as a major decision factor for applicants, play this year? How interested are departments in applicants with ideas who could potentially introduce new patents and designs under the guise of the program during their time in residency? Which departments would be interested such an applicant and interested in fostering development of new technology and clinical trials during residency? How open would such departments be to residents collaborating with the university to bring these ideas to market during residency? How should this issue be handled on the application, during interviews? Thanks
