Objective:

To assess the impact of a neurology and neurosurgery procedural workshop on medical students' interests within those fields.

Background:

Despite the increasing need for neurologists and neurosurgeons, there is a decline in medical students choosing these specialties, with reasons including negative perceptions about neuroscience-based fields and lack of exposure during preclinical education. Early hands-on experience and interactions with enthusiastic residents/faculty positively influence medical students' specialty choices within neurology and neurosurgery. Furthermore, one of the top reasons people choose to match into neurology is their enthusiasm and commitment to the field. To meet the need for neurologists/neurosurgeons, it may be beneficial to cultivate interest in these fields early in the medical student career through workshops that expose students to procedures and faculty.

Design/Methods:

Students rotated among five stations: lumbar puncture (LP), electromyography (EMG), brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cases, microdiscectomy, and cranial drilling. After the workshop, participants rated their interest in neurology/neurosurgery and their confidence in performing the procedures, before and after the workshop, measured on a Likert scale of 1-5. Statistical comparisons were made using a paired t-test.

Results:

Conclusions:

Our preclinical procedures workshop shows promise in increasing interest in neurology as well as familiarity with neurological procedures. In contrast, top reasons deterring students from pursuing neurosurgery pertain more to lifestyle factors, which could help explain the lack of significant increase in interest following the workshop.