Assessing opportunities for formal exposure to clinical neurosurgery within United States allopathic medical education curricula

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate opportunities for early clinical exposure to neurosurgery at US allopathic medical schools and to assess associations between early exposure and recruitment into neurosurgery.

Methods: The authors conducted a standardized review of online curriculum documentation for all US allopathic medical schools, including descriptive review of opportunities for clinical neurosurgical training among medical students. Chi-square analysis was used to compare baseline characteristics of institutions. Logistic regression was performed to assess factors predictive of early exposure to clinical neurosurgery, defined as completion of a formal rotation at least 6 months prior to Electronic Residency Application Service submission.

Results: Among 155 allopathic US medical schools, 143 are fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Eleven schools have no affiliated hospitals with a neurosurgery practice, and 26 do not have an American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) medical student chapter. Overall, 94 (60.6%) have a traditional preclinical curriculum lasting 21-25 months, 50 (32.3%) offer an intermediate preclinical period of 15-20 months, and 11 (7.1%) report a short preclinical curriculum of 12-14 months. Early formal exposure to clinical neurosurgery was offered by 113 schools (72.9%). Early clinical exposure to neurosurgery was associated with a short (100%) or intermediate (76%) preclinical curriculum, as compared with a traditional curriculum (68.1%; p = 0.066). Early exposure was significantly associated with a shorter preclinical curriculum (OR 0.784, p = 0.005). AANS medical student chapters were present at a high majority of schools with early exposure (OR 4.114, p = 0.006). Medical schools with a higher percentage of graduating medical students matching into neurosurgery were associated with a shorter preclinical curriculum length (β = -0.287, p < 0.001), were more commonly private medical schools (β = 0.338, p < 0.001), and had early clinical exposure to neurosurgery (β = 0.191, p = 0.032).

Conclusions: Early exposure to clinical neurosurgery is available at most US allopathic medical schools and is associated with shorter preclinical curricula and institutions with AANS medical student chapters. Medical schools with a higher proportion of medical students entering neurosurgery had a shorter preclinical curriculum length and early clinical exposure to neurosurgery. Further study is recommended to characterize the impact of early exposure on long-term pedagogical outcomes.

Keywords: clinical neurosurgery exposure; medical education; medical school curriculum; medical student recruitment.