Tmc Podcast: Interviews With Medical Specialists

Dr Leon Lai is a neurosurgery consultant at Monash Health. Leon has always been a focused and driven doctor, never considering any specialty other than neurosurgery. His special interest lies in vascular neurosurgery, although this is somewhat in decline due to the advent of interventional cardiology. Nevertheless, as we are walked through his daily routine, we learn how intensely busy life as a neurosurgeon can be. This is a world where 3 hour operations are the norm, and the tiny margin for error can be the difference between improving someone's life and further complicating it. Leon gives us some advice as to learning the "rules of the game" that is entry into medical specialties. For him, this was taking a PhD and acquiring experience in his desired field early on, both key "tools" to his success. While medical grades as important, he believes the "currency is different" in the working field; in particular, he views two attributes as key to our future prosperity. Leon gives us his two cents as to why it