Medical Student Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Introduction: Exposure to neurosurgery is important for helping medical students determine whether it is a career they would like to pursue, with their perceptions of the field ultimately influencing their decision-making.
Methods: A 60-question survey evaluating exposure to and perception of neurosurgery was distributed to medical students in two United States academic medical centers.
Results: 111 responses (103 complete, 8 partial) were received. 71 trainees (65.1%) self-identified as female. The response rate was 10.2%.
11.8% (n=13) of trainees indicated an interest in neurosurgery, and this did not vary by gender or race/ethnicity. 64.0% (n=71) of trainees reported having interacted with neurosurgeons in some way (e.g., through seminars, classes, research experiences, clinical duties), and this did not vary by gender or ethnicity. 20.6% (n=22) of respondents reported having ever had a neurosurgery mentor, and among those respondents, 86.4% (n=19) reported that their mentors had been mostly men. All respondents (n=111) viewed research as at least slightly important in the career of a neurosurgeon. 21.4% (n=22) of respondents reported having performed neurosurgical research, and only 6.9% (n=7) of respondents felt that they lacked adequate neurosurgical research opportunities. However, among the respondents who reported yes or no to this question (rather than “I do not know”), females were more likely to report inadequate neurosurgical research opportunities—22.6% (n=7) of females versus 0% of males (p=0.0294).
Over half of respondents (53.2%, n=58) reported finding neurosurgery incompatible with parenthood, and 67.0% (n=73) reported finding neurosurgery incompatible with having a stable and satisfying personal life. Neither finding varied by gender or ethnicity.
Conclusion : Exposure to and perceptions of neurosurgery generally did not differ by gender or ethnicity in two North American medical schools, suggesting that factors other than exposure and access to research, educational, and mentorship opportunities may be driving the limited gender and racial diversity in our neurosurgical workforce.
