Objective: Traditionally, neurosurgery is a competitive field. Throughout the years, the surgical armamentarium has been subject to change, e.g. due to the rise of indications for gamma knife,... Show moreObjective: Traditionally, neurosurgery is a competitive field. Throughout the years, the surgical armamentarium has been subject to change, e.g. due to the rise of indications for gamma knife, functional or endovascular surgery. Furthermore, due to modern day issues among residents, such as work hour restrictions (WHRs) and prevalence of burn-out, may require contemporary modifications of the neurosurgical curriculum. By the means of this cross sectional research, the current curriculum is evaluated.Methods: In September 2019, a 21-question survey was mailed to members of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons using SurveyMonkey. The survey consisted out of 3 parts: demographics of the respondents, respondent's neurosurgical residency and opinions on essential procedures. Results: After the two reminders, 578 members responded resulting in a response rate of 7.3%. Respondents had a mean residency program of 7 years (range 3 to 12 years). Of the residents, 87.5% had a weekly WHR of 80 h per week. A minority (43.8%) felt WHRs would limit the chances of residents to master surgical techniques.Neurotraumatical procedures such as decompression of subdural (91.5%) and epidural (91.3%) hematoma's, ventriculoperitoneal shunt insertion (86.9%), Chiari decompression (81.4%) and cervical discectomy (81.4%) were the procedures respondents mastered the most. This in contrast to endovascular procedures (67.9%), percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (48.5%) and deep brain stimulation (34%), in which respondents were less proficient.Conclusions: The current study gives an evaluation of different neurosurgical curricula and aimed to identify which surgical procedures are deemed as essential by neurosurgeons worldwide. Functional neurosurgery is the field in which most neurosurgeons required more instruction. Neuroendovascular and Gamma knife surgery were subspecializations in which neurosurgeons were less proficient but also specializations that were deemed more desirable to be known during residency. Show less
OBJECTIVE: Historically, women have been underrepresented in medicine but nowadays the underrepresentation is more applicable to surgical disciplines. Many efforts have been made to decrease the... Show moreOBJECTIVE: Historically, women have been underrepresented in medicine but nowadays the underrepresentation is more applicable to surgical disciplines. Many efforts have been made to decrease the attrition rate of women in neurosurgery and to even career opportunities to be comparable to those of male colleagues. However, it is unclear if gender disparities occur between female and male neurosurgeons. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to identify gender differences in the professional and private life of neurosurgeons.METHODS: A survey consisting of 38 questions was sent to members of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons regarding demographics, career fulfillment, private life, and parenting. Comparison between female and male respondents was made.RESULTS: A total of 870 members filled in surveys, which were analyzed. Working full time, days worked weekly, and gross salary did not differ between male and female neurosurgeons. However, female neurosurgeons rated their career fulfillment worse than did male neurosurgeons (P < 0.001) and were less likely to choose a career as a neurosurgeon again (P < 0.001). Furthermore, female neurosurgeons were less likely to be married or to have children than were male colleagues (P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS: Despite efforts to increase the amount of women enrolling into neurosurgery and despite efforts to strive for equality, the results of the current study show gender disparities in professional and private careers among neurosurgeons. Practice patterns did not differ between male and female neurosurgeons, but perceptions of career and characteristics of private life did. Program directors and chairs should focus on measures to decrease gender differences and to strive for equal career satisfaction among female and male neurosurgeons. Show less
