Medical Student Education in Neurosurgery: Optional or Essential?

Lobel, Darlene A.; Kahn, Max; Rosen, Charles L.; Pilitsis, Julie G.

doi:10.1080/10401334.2015.1011656

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…At most institutions, formal exposure to neurosurgery during medical school is weighted toward the senior years, and it is often the responsibility of the student to explore the field during earlier years. 2,3 Because of this absence of clinical exposure, medical students' perceptions of the field, often shrouded in stereotypes, weigh heavily in the decision-making process and have been the subject of recent studies. 4,5 However, as might be expected, student perceptions are not static and are significantly shaped by increased exposure to the field, in particular, after rotating through the neurosurgery…”

Section: Medical Licensing Examinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical Student Concerns Relating to Neurosurgery Education During COVID-19

et al. 2020

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BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created significant obstacles within medical education. For medical students interested in pursuing neurosurgery as a specialty, the educational policies surrounding COVID-19 have resulted in unique challenges. The present study used a nationwide survey to identify the concerns of medical students interested in pursuing neurosurgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.-METHODS: Students who had previously registered for medical student neurosurgery training camps were sent an online Qualtrics survey requesting them to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting their neurosurgical education. The Pearson c 2 test and post hoc pairwise Fisher exact test were used for analysis of categorical variables, and the 2tailed paired Student t test was used for continuous variables.-RESULTS: The survey was distributed to 852 medical students, with 127 analyzed responses. Concerns regarding conferences and networking opportunities (63%), clinical experience (59%), and board examination scores (42%) were most frequently cited. Of the third-year medical students, 76% reported ‡1 cancelled or postponed neurosurgery rotation. On average, students were more likely to take 1 year off from medical school after than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, measured from 0 to 100 (25.3 AE 36.0 vs. 39.5 AE 37.5; P [ 0.004). Virtual mentorship pairing was the highest rated educational intervention suggested by first-and second-year medical students. The third-and fourth-year medical students had cited virtual surgical skills workshops most frequently.-CONCLUSIONS: The results from the present nationwide survey have highlighted the concerns of medical students regarding their neurosurgery education during the COVID-19 pandemic. With these findings, neurosurgery organizations can consider targeted plans for students of each year to continue their education and development.

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Section: Medical Licensing Examinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical Student Concerns Relating to Neurosurgery Education During COVID-19

et al. 2020

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“…This poses a conundrum for medical students, junior trainees and international applicants: how can they best prepare themselves to optimise their chances of becoming a UK neurosurgeon? With limited exposure to neurosurgery and neurosurgeons at medical school [ 25 , 36 ], students have turned to an external organisation: the Neurology and NeuroSurgery Interest Group (NANSIG) [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Neurology and Neurosurgery Interest Group (NANSIG)—ten years of cultivating interest in clinical neurosciences

et al. 2022

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Collaboration and successful teamworking are important components of clinical practise, and these skills should be cultivated early in medical school. The breadth of current medical school curricula means that students often have limited exposure to clinical neurosciences. Since its inception in 2009, the Neurology and Neurosurgery Interest Group (NANSIG) has become a national (UK and Republic of Ireland) example of student and junior doctor synergistic collaboration to deliver educational materials, research, conferences, seminars and workshops, as well as advocating for diversity in this field. Recently, it has expanded to incorporate an international audience and cater for a larger group of young medical professionals. The organisation has overcome numerous challenges and is constantly innovating new approaches to harness the necessary knowledge, skills and network to succeed in a career in neurosciences, neurology and neurosurgery. This article summarises the initiatives undertaken by the group over its first 10 years of existence and its organisational structure, as well as its future plans.

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“…7 Meaningful subspecialty experiences will, therefore, for the first time in decades, be absent from many fourth-year MSs (MS4s) training and, potentially, will be abbreviated for many third-year MSs (MS3s) because of delays in medical school core rotations. Owing to the increasingly limited exposure to subspecialty training during medical school, especially in neurosurgery, 8 clerkship and subspecialty clinical experiences have become necessary for accruing both skill acquisition 9 and clinical experience and testing interests in various clinical subspecialties. 10 , 11 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Democratizing Access to Neurosurgical Medical Education: National Efforts in a Medical Student Training Camp During Coronavirus Disease 2019

et al. 2020

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Background National medical student surveys amidst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)–driven subinternship cancellations have demonstrated the need for supplemental, standardized subspecialty medical education, mentorship, and career planning nationally. We have presented the first live, cross-institutional virtual medical student subspecialty training camp to deliver standardized neurosurgical educational content to medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its results on medical student anxiety and perceptions of neurosurgery. Methods The online training camp used a video conferencing platform that was open to all medical students. A post-training camp survey was administered. Results A total of 305 medical students registered for the event from 107 unique U.S. medical schools. Of the 305 medical students, 108 reported intending to apply to neurosurgery residency in 2021. The top medical student objectives for the training camp were program networking and mentorship. Of the 305 participants, 121 (39.7%) completed the post-training survey. Of the respondents, 65.0% reported improved neurosurgical knowledge, 79.8% reported decreased anxiety about subinternships and interviews, 82.5% reported increased enthusiasm about neurosurgery, and 100% desired a future annual virtual training camp because of the increased accessibility and decreased cost. This was especially important for students at institutions without home subspecialty programs and those with financial burdens. Conclusions COVID-19–driven innovations in medical education have accelerated changes that may have long been necessary. This virtual structure improved resource usage and scalability compared with in-person training, maintained social distancing, and democratized access to standardized, specialized content not often available through traditional medical curricula. Even as a supplement to in-person events, the virtual training camp model could be implemented by national medical societies, which might significantly increase medical students' preparedness for, and education in, neurosurgery and other subspecialties.

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Medical Student Education in Neurosurgery: Optional or Essential?

Cited by 18 publications

References 15 publications

Medical Student Concerns Relating to Neurosurgery Education During COVID-19

Medical Student Concerns Relating to Neurosurgery Education During COVID-19

The Neurology and Neurosurgery Interest Group (NANSIG)—ten years of cultivating interest in clinical neurosciences

Democratizing Access to Neurosurgical Medical Education: National Efforts in a Medical Student Training Camp During Coronavirus Disease 2019

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