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. 2025 Mar:164:110288.
doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2025.110288. Epub 2025 Feb 8.

Early career in epilepsy in Greece

Panagiota-Eleni Tsalouchidou  1 , Zafeirenia Vlakou  2 , Maria Angeli  3 , Lampros Kousoulos  3 , Marianna Bregianni  4 , Anna Keramida  2 , Vasiliki Kotsali-Peteinelli  2 , Klearchos Ntemiris  5 , Maria Gogou  6
Affiliations
Free article

Early career in epilepsy in Greece

Panagiota-Eleni Tsalouchidou et al. Epilepsy Behav. 2025 Mar.
Free article

Abstract

Background: Early-career professionals in epilepsy face unique challenges that can impact their professional growth and capacity to provide high-quality care. This study explores the demographic and professional characteristics, access to resources, barriers, and training needs of young professionals in epilepsy in Greece, to identify key areas for support and improvement.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among early-career professionals in epilepsy in Greece, including neurologists, pediatricians, residents, nurses, and allied health professionals. Participants completed a structured questionnaire addressing demographics, professional experiences, training needs, and perceived challenges. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and results were visualized through graphs and tables.

Results: The survey included 58 participants, the majority being female (74.1 %) and aged 30-35 years (56.9 %). Most participants were employed in public or university hospitals (81.04 %), with 49.12 % reporting no specialized training in epilepsy but expressing a strong intention to pursue it. Financial constraints (41.4 %) and work-related challenges (31.0 %) were the primary barriers to attending educational activities. Key training priorities included clinical neurophysiology (71.9 %), neuroimaging (68.4 %), and genetics (66.7 %). Preferences for conference topics focused on hands-on EEG (81 %) and neuroimaging (77.6 %) courses, followed by pharmacological management (67.2 %), diagnostic approaches (63.8 %), epilepsy surgery (63.8 %), and precision medicine (55.2 %).

Conclusion: The findings highlight the barriers and training needs among early-career epilepsy professionals in Greece. Addressing these challenges through targeted educational initiatives, mentorship programs, and financial support mechanisms could foster professional development and enhance the quality of epilepsy care. These results also provide a foundation for the establishment of initiatives such as the Young Epilepsy Section in Greece to support the next generation of epilepsy specialists.

Keywords: Early-career in epilepsy; Epilepsy; Epilepsy training; Greece; Mentorship; Professional development; Training needs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.