The Neurosurgical Atlas: advancing neurosurgical education in the digital age

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>OBJECTIVE</jats:title><jats:p>The advent of the internet and the popularity of e-learning resources has promoted a shift in medical and surgical education today. <jats:italic>The Neurosurgical Atlas</jats:italic> has sought to capitalize on this shift by providing easily accessible video and online education to its users on an international scale. The rising popularity of social media has provided new avenues for expanding that global reach, and the <jats:italic>Atlas</jats:italic> has sought to do just that. In this study, the authors analyzed user demographics and web traffic patterns to quantify the international reach of the <jats:italic>Atlas</jats:italic> and examined the potential impact of social media platforms on the expansion of that reach.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>METHODS</jats:title><jats:p>Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram metrics were extracted using each respective service’s analytics tool from the date of their creation through October 2019. Google Analytics was used to extract website traffic data from September 2018 to September 2019 and app data from January 2019 to October 2019. The metrics extracted included the number of platform users/followers, user demographic information, percentage of new versus returning visitors, and a number of platform-specific values.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>RESULTS</jats:title><jats:p>Since the authors’ previous publication in 2017, annual website viewership has more than doubled to greater than 500,000 viewing sessions in the past year alone; international users accounted for more than 60% of the visits. The <jats:italic>Atlas</jats:italic> Twitter account, established in August 2012, has more than 12,000 followers, primarily hailing from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. The <jats:italic>Atlas</jats:italic> Facebook account, established in 2013, has just over 13,000 followers, primarily from India, Egypt, and Mexico. The <jats:italic>Atlas</jats:italic> Instagram account (established most recently, in December 2018) has more than 16,000 followers and the highest percentage (31%) of younger users (aged 18–24 years). The <jats:italic>Atlas</jats:italic> app was officially launched in May 2019, largely via promotion on the <jats:italic>Atlas</jats:italic> social media platforms, and has since recorded more than 60,000 viewing sessions, 80% of which were from users outside the United States.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>CONCLUSIONS</jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>The Neurosurgical Atlas</jats:italic> has attempted to leverage the many e-learning resources at its disposal to assist in spreading neurosurgical best practice on an international scale in a novel and comprehensive way. By incorporating multiple social media platforms into its repertoire, the <jats:italic>Atlas</jats:italic> is able to ensure awareness of and access to these resources regardless of the user’s location or platform of preference. In so doing, the <jats:italic>Atlas</jats:italic> represents a novel way of advancing access to neurosurgical educational resources in the digital age.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Letter to the Editor “COVID-19 and Neurosurgical Education in Africa: Making Lemonade from Lemons”

“…African residents and young neurosurgeons are already learning from and about world-renowned neurosurgeons via online medical education platforms. 3 It is clear from this that we can do a better job of integrating online medical education and our experts into our training programs. In order to limit the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic, multiple programs have implemented physical distancing, which reduces in-person interactions.…”

Editorial. Innovations in neurosurgical education during the COVID-19 pandemic: is it time to reexamine our neurosurgical training models?

“…5 The Atlas has a large international subscriber base, including thousands of members (36,000 total) in disease epicenters such as China, Italy, and the United States. 6 The largest audience demographic (approximately 45% of visitors between 25 and 34 years old 7 ) includes medical students and residents, whose learning is likely to be impacted by the global pandemic. For years, the Atlas has aimed to develop virtual resources that can supplement, although never replace, the cognitive skill set obtained during live surgical cases.…”

Democratizing Access to Neurosurgical Medical Education: National Efforts in a Medical Student Training Camp During Coronavirus Disease 2019

“…Although the shutdown of in-person medical education 19 and the need to transition to virtual platforms 20 was tested in 2003 during the severe acute respiratory syndrome pandemic, great advancements have occurred in virtual education capabilities and greater public access to technology since then. Neurosurgical societies have developed infrastructure to deliver high-quality interactive 21 and live single-lecture educational content 22 , 23 to resident and career neurosurgeons during COVID-19, in addition to various local efforts to share institutional content through virtual lectures. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 However, a paucity of instructional content pertaining to MS neurosurgical education has remained, especially given MSs' inability to participate in away subinternships amidst COVID-19 in the United States.…”