BREAKING THE BOTTLENECK

🧠 How I Got Into Neurosurgery(From Being Bottom 2 in Med School)

“If you found out you had the second‑lowest UCAT score in your year, what gives you the audacity to think you could become a neurosurgeon?”

Ollie Burton and I had a chat about his story. He was in this exact situation. He missed out on medical school in 2017. When he finally got in, he was told he was one of the lowest-ranked candidates. 

But he turned it around and eventually became one of the top 10 applicants for neurosurgery training, and secured an Academic Clinical Fellowship to boot. He also completed a side quest in becoming a pretty big med influencer with over 100,000 followers across Youtube, X and Linkedin.

He broke down all his secrets. Starting with his background…

His story starts with his A-levels. Ollie got AAB. Not what most medical schools want. So it was back to the drawing board. He did an undergrad degree in cellular & molecular biology then was off to Warwick medical school through graduate entry.

In his 2nd year, he credits a pivotal personal moment that resulted in a passion for neurosurgery. Once he decided on this goal, he got involved wherever he could. From societies to being proactive in the clinical environment. 

His proactivity caught the attention of the registrar who mentored him. This mentorship was a cheat code. This resulted in him being offered opportunities for research, audits and quality improvement projects. Although he didn’t know it at the time, this was all good fodder for the shortlisting matrix — the stats required to be a competitive candidate. 

From there it was all about satisfying the matrix. Through the remainder of medical school, foundation years then his academic teaching fellowship. He achieved:

• 4-5 closed looped audits: one changed standard of care at UCLH

• An abundance of teaching sessions. 1 formal teaching programme (8 sessions over 3 months) and ad hoc sessions usually 2-3 times per month.

• 20+ publications (he insists 2–3 solid neurosurg papers is enough. Quality > quantity)

• 13 prizes & awards: 7 during medical school, 6 post graduation.

With all of these achievements, and achieving an MSRA score of 530, you’d think it would be smooth sailing. But Ollie still fell slightly short. Ranking 34th, when he really needed to come top 20.

This is where Ollie credits grit in his success. He put his life on hold for 6 months, putting everything else on hold until the cycle was over. 

This time it was different.

Achieving an MSRA score of 551 and smashing his interview. Ranking 7th in the country. He got his dream role.

Key takeaways 🧏:

1. Be shamelessly proactive: Getting noticed by the reg wasn’t luck. It was the result of repeatedly showing up in the right places. Most of us tend to blend in during placement. If you're interested in the speciality it’s not too hard to stand out. Stay curious. Opportunities will come.

2. Reverse-engineer the system: He figured out what was important early. In his case, neurosurgery had the score cut off. This means maxing out the neurosurgery ST1 scoring matrix. He broke it into chunks and worked backwards. No wasted time or factors that didn’t assist him.

3. Persistence: It’s pretty rare for any doctor to get a competitive specialty training on your first go, so don’t feel disheartened. With time, it becomes increasingly likely for you to get in. Both because you know what to expect, and inevitably getting better with time (e.g. MSRA score 530 => 551)

4. Mentorships and community: He stressed the importance of mentorship. The early projects were as a direct result of someone looking out for him. Additionally, to keep himself sane, his wife and friendship were imperative during the hard times. 

I asked Ollie what his long term ambitions were. His eyes are set on becoming the one they call for the hardest cases. The name surgeons whisper when no one else will take it. He’s also fallen in love with teaching. So fostering and mentoring the next generation of neurosurgeons is his next top priority.

If you are unsure of what you want to do in medicine. That’s okay. If you’d like to gain some clarity. Join The Handover. I post stories just like this every week, speaking to top doctors in competitive specialties, like Neurosurgery, Derm… basically every speciality in 2025. As well medics looking into other industries, like portfolio doctors, finance and consulting

Join The Handover: www.thehandover.co