Comparing the Role of Experiences Before and After Medical School Between Neurosurgery Attendings and Residents in Deciding to Pursue a Neurosurgical Career

Introduction: Neurosurgery is a competitive surgical specialty with a growing number of medical school applicants. Many medical students do not have adequate exposure to the field until clinical rotations, limiting opportunity for sufficient career exploration. Some surveys have been administered to medical students and to program directors in gauging what activities are performed by successful applicants. However, there have not been any surveys done comparing the role of individual experiences between neurosurgery residents and attendings in the decision to pursue a neurosurgical career.

Methods: Two versions of a survey were sent to Neurosurgery attendings and residents from all 115 neurosurgery residency programs via emails collected from the AANS Residency Program Directory and individual institutional website directories. The survey asked participants whether or not they participated in specific experiences before and during medical school. These questions were followed up with a Likert Scale asking participants to rate the importance of each activity in their decision to pursue a career in Neurosurgery with 1= Not Important ranging up to 5 = Extremely Important. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher exact and Mann Whitney U tests.

Results: Complete responses from 145 Neurosurgery attendings and 58 residents were analyzed. Residents and attendings' mean ratings were similar for experiences before medical school: volunteering (3.50 vs. 3.15, p=0.544), shadowing (3.63 vs. 3.49, p=0.625), and research (4.06 vs. 3.61, p=0.300). For activities during medical school, residents and attendings responded similarly: volunteering (3.62 vs. 3.70, p=0.471), shadowing (4.55 vs. 4.35, p=0.312), neurosurgical mentorship (4.59 vs. 4.49, p=0.533), research (3.87 vs. 3.91, p=0.874), conference attendance (3.56 vs. 3.68, p=0.855), clerkships (4.42 vs. 4.25, p=0.569), away rotations (4.59 vs. 4.39, p=0.087); differing only on pre-clinical curriculum exposure (4.19 vs. 3.46, p=0.014).

Conclusion : Neurosurgery residents and attendings share similar perceptions on the importance of certain experiences in deciding to pursue a neurosurgical career.