Medical student concerns relating to neurosurgery education during COVID-19

Guadix, Sergio W.; Winston, Graham M.; Chae, John K.; Haghdel, Arsalan; Chen, Justin; Younus, Iyan; Radwanski, Ryan; Greenfield, Jeffrey P.; Pannullo, Susan C.

Abstract Background The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created significant obstacles within medical education. For medical students interested in pursuing neurosurgery as a specialty, educational policies surrounding COVID-19 present unique challenges. This study utilizes a nationwide survey to identify concerns held by students interested in pursuing neurosurgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Students who previously registered for the Medical Student Neurosurgery Training Camps were sent an online Qualtrics survey, requesting them to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting their neurosurgical education. The Pearson Chi-Square test and post-hoc pairwise Fisher’s exact test were used for analysis of categorical variables and the two-tailed paired Student’s t-test was utilized for continuous variables. Results The survey was distributed to 852 medical students with 127 complete responses. Concerns regarding conferences/networking opportunities (63%), clinical experience (59%), and board exam scores (42%) were most frequently cited. 76% of M3s reported at least one cancelled/postponed neurosurgery rotation. On average, students were more likely to take a year off from medical school after COVID-19 than before the start of the pandemic, measured from 0 to 100 (25.3 ± 36.0 vs 39.5 ± 37.5; p = 0.004). Virtual mentorship pairing was the highest rated educational intervention suggested by M1s and M2s, while M3s and M4s cited virtual surgical skills workshops most frequently. Conclusions This nationwide survey highlights the concerns of medical students in neurosurgery education during the COVID-19 pandemic. With these findings, neurosurgery organizations can consider targeted plans for students of each year to continue their development.