Aberdeen, UK AB25 2ZN. 2. King's College London School of Medicine, London, UK WC2R. 2LS. 3. Department of Neurosurgery, Western General Hospital,.
Acta Neurochir DOI 10.1007/s00701-015-2651-x
CLINICAL ARTICLE - NEUROSURGERY TRAINING
The teaching of neurosurgery in UK medical schools: a message from British medical students Yiannis Skarparis 1,4
&
Callum A. Findlay 2 & Andreas K. Demetriades 3
Received: 19 August 2015 / Accepted: 22 October 2015 # Springer-Verlag Wien 2015
Abstract Background A great variability exists in the clinical exposure of neurosurgery across all academic years in UK medical schools, although the effects of this on knowledge level and confidence in referring cases appropriately to specialists have not been reported. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out involving students in years 1–5 across nine British medical schools. An electronic questionnaire was sent out which consisted of questions concerning the teaching of the subject; and questions assessing the knowledge of basic neurosurgery through mini clinical scenarios testing which specialty should receive a referral. Results Of 417 participants, 60 were excluded due to incomplete participation. Senior years outperformed students in junior years for correctly answered questions on five neurosurgical scenarios (mean score: years 1–3 (184/357)=3.33/5, years 4–5 (173/357)=3.79/5, p
