Intended career: Neurologist

 

 

 

Job Description:

     A neurologist is a medical doctor who specializes in nervous-system conditions. The job entails consulting with patients, conducting tests and procedures, making diagnoses, and prescribing medication and other treatment.

     A neurologist examines the nerves in the head and the neck, and measures a patient’s muscular coordination and reflexes. Impaired language skills also can be a sign of illness. Potential conditions include mental illness, cancer, stroke, epilepsy, spinal trauma, cognitive and behavioral disorders, infections, brain injuries, movement disorders, sleep problems, cerebral palsy, encephalitis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Among the diagnostic procedures designed to detect such ailments are MRIs, CAT scans, SPECT tests, PET scans, lumbar punctures, spinal taps, electroencephalography, electromyography and nerve-conduction velocity tests.

     Upon determining the nature of a patient’s disorder, the neurologist recommends treatment. In some cases, like epilepsy, medication may be prescribed. Physical therapy, specialized medical care or social services are sometimes appropriate. Transcranial magnetic stimulation, and other procedures that stimulate nerves or the brain, are often conducted.

Average salary of intended career: $205,110

Requirements of intended career:

• degree in medicine from an accredited school

• licensed to practice

• at least 2-4 years of neurology experience

• 3 to 8 years of internship and residency

• familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field

• a wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected

Cost of intended career: For the 2012-2013 year, the average total cost for tuition and fees for nonresident, first-year medical students at private schools is $49,897, about $3,600 less than the total for nonresidents of public institutions.

Bureau of Labor Statistics outlook and salary:

Outlook: Employment of physicians and surgeons is projected to grow 18 percent from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations. Job growth will occur because of the continued expansion of healthcare-related industries. The growing and aging population is expected to drive overall growth in the demand for physician services as consumers continue to seek high levels of care that uses the latest technologies, diagnostic tests, and therapies. Some medical schools are increasing their enrollments on the basis of a perceived higher demand for physicians.

Salary: Wages for physicians and surgeons are among the highest of all occupations. According to the Medical Group Management Association’s Physician Compensation and Production Survey, median total compensation for physicians varied with their type of practice. In 2012, physicians practicing primary care received total median annual compensation of $220,942 and physicians practicing in medical specialties received total median annual compensation of $396,233.

University Programs of intended major (neuroscience):

UCLA:

 

 

 

COA: Cost of Attendance ($56,203 Out-of-state)

     The Neuroscience major is a designated capstone major. Undergraduate students have the option of conducting two terms of independent research within a faculty laboratory or completing an advanced laboratory methods course with a series of research modules. Through their capstone work, students demonstrate ability to generate testable scientific hypotheses and develop a research plan to test such hypotheses; work on research projects independently and in small groups; evaluate and discuss primary literature and the validity of hypotheses generated by others; communicate effectively orally and in writing; and demonstrate creative thinking.

The Neuroscience major consists of 11 courses (approximately 47 units).

Johns Hopkins:

 

 

COA: Cost of Attendance ($64,679 Out-of-state)

     The Neuroscience Training Program and the Neuroscience Department are among the oldest in the United States and date back to 1980. The faculty of the Neuroscience Training Program has trained about 250 Ph.D. and M.D. /Ph.D. students and 500 postdoctoral fellows over the past ten years. All doctoral candidates receive full tuition remission and a stipend. Currently, about 90 doctoral candidates and 150 postdoctoral fellows work in the laboratories of faculty in the Neuroscience Program.

     The Training Program addresses the broad areas encompassed by modern neuroscience. The purpose of the Program is to train doctoral students for independent research and teaching in neuroscience. It is the goal of the Program to ensure that candidates for the Ph.D. and M.D. /Ph.D. degrees obtain a background covering molecular/cellular and systems/cognitive approaches to neuroscience, as well as receive training that brings them to the forefront of research in their particular area of interest.

Harvard Medical School:

 

 

 

COA: Cost of Attendance ($62,250 Out-of-state)

     The Program in Neuroscience draws together neuroscientists from across Harvard. The physical home base of the program is located at the Longwood Campus of Harvard Medical School, in the Department of Neurobiology. Most coursework occurs at this campus, and all the first-year students receive advising here. But in the decades since the Program was founded, it has expanded to offer students options for thesis research in many research departments throughout Harvard, including labs at the Cambridge campus and Harvard-affiliated hospitals. The enormous number and diversity of labs affiliated with the Program means that students have a wide range of options in choosing research experiences.

Stanford Medical School:

 

 

 

COA: Cost of Attendance ($62,455 Out-of-state)

     The goal of the Neurosciences Program is to teach students how to approach and solve research problems in Neuroscience. This is done by developing students' skills in modern methods of neuroscience research, their ability to appraise the scientific literature and make scientific judgements, to be self-confident and skillful in communicating research results and ultimately to function as independent creative neuroscientists. Students work closely with faculty, postdoctoral fellows and other students to achieve these goals.

     Laboratory rotations provide students with hands-on experience in a variety of approaches and methods. Students are required to complete 3 rotations in their first year. Rotations enable students to make informed decisions about the faculty mentor and the research area for their Ph.D. thesis. They also provide a wonderful vehicle to get to know and learn from several faculty members and their laboratory groups, and identify potential thesis committee members. Within this flexible system, students may rotate or even carry out their dissertation research in any of the other Stanford Ph.D. programs in the biomedical sciences.

Columbia University:

 

 

 

 

COA: Cost of Attendance ($63,440 Out-of-state)

     The Columbia Curriculum is an innovative and flexible curriculum that reorganizes the academic structure of medical education by dispensing with the old designations of first, second, third, and fourth years. Those categories are replaced by three major segments in the restructured curriculum: Fundamentals, Major Clinical Year, and Differentiation & Integration.

     This new curriculum takes advantage of the latest knowledge about how adults learn and inspires students to take ownership of their own learning. It fosters a team-based approach, an essential element of medicine today, while at the same time allowing students to explore their individual goals in medicine.

Cover Letter:

Cover Letter Document

Note: This cover letter has been written using the data currently available as I have not completed high school and is written in the perspective of a junior. More data will be entered when this letter is updated as I go to college. This cover letter could also be used as one for when I am applying for college.