The radiographic data in this study suggest that female patients are affected by a greater number of tumors than male patients and that post-surgery tumors of the CPA grow faster in females than in males.
Objective: There has been a fivefold increase of neurosurgeons over the last three decades in Germany, despite a lesser increase in operations. Currently, there are approximately 1000 neurosurgical residents employed at training hospitals. Little is known about the overall training experience and career opportunities for these trainees.
Methods: In our role as resident representatives, we implemented a mailing list for interested German neurosurgical trainees. Thereafter, we created a survey including 25 items to assess the trainees’ satisfaction with their training and their perceived career prospects, which we then distributed through the mailing list. The survey was open from 1st April until 31st May 2021.
Results: 90 trainees were enrolled in the mailing list and we received 81 completed responses to our survey. Overall, 47% of trainees were very dissatisfied or dissatisfied with their training. 62% of trainees reported a lack of surgical training. 58% of trainees found it difficult to attend courses or classes and only 16% had consistent mentoring. There was an expressed desire for a more structured training programme and mentoring projects. In addition, 88% of trainees were willing to relocate for fellowships outside their current hospitals.
Conclusions: Half of the responders were dissatisfied with their neurosurgical training. There are various aspects that require improvement, such as the training curriculum, the lack of structured mentoring and the amount of administrative work. We propose the implementation of a modernized structured curriculum, which addresses the mentioned aspects, in order to improve neurosurgical training and, consecutively, patient care.
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