A Hands-on Simulation Course to Enhance Medical Student Interest in Neurosurgery: From Square Knots to Bypass

Introduction: Medical student exposure to neurosurgery is limited as most medical schools only provide neurosurgical clinical experience as an elective option during the last year of medical school— a significant barrier to students’ career exploration and decision-making. To address this education gap, our team has proposed a pilot neurosurgical simulation course to evaluate its educational value and motivational impact among medical students.

Methods: The course included three sessions: 1.) a burr hole craniotomy and hematoma evacuation simulation, 2.) a basic suturing and knot tying simulation, and 3.) a cerebral artery bypass simulation with accompanying lectures and didactics. A pre-course survey and post-course survey were distributed to the participants before and after the course respectively to assess the impact of this course on student knowledge, interest, and surgical aptitude in neurosurgery.

Results: Ten medical students participated in the course. The survey response rate was 100%. A comparison of the pre- and post-course survey responses showed differences in student interest, knowledge, and surgical aptitude. There was a 30% increase in students’ overall interest in neurosurgery accompanied by a 20% increase in students’ overall likelihood of pursuing a career in neurosurgery. Students’ overall knowledge of basic neurosurgical procedures increased by 60% with students initially reporting having no knowledge of basic neurosurgical procedures (80%). The surgical aptitude of the participants increased significantly with students reporting their surgical technical skills were poor (50%), bad (30%), and moderate (20%) before the course; and after the course reporting their surgical skills were moderate (40%), good (30%), bad (20%), and poor (10%).

Conclusion : Delayed exposure to neurosurgery among medical students presents a barrier to career exploration, knowledge, and attitudes toward the field. Our study shows that the implementation of a hands-on simulation course has potential to improve student knowledge, interest, and surgical aptitude in neurosurgery.