Neurosurg Focus. 2020 Mar 1;48(3):E12. doi: 10.3171/2019.12.FOCUS19804.
Africa still significantly lags in the development of neurosurgery. Egypt, located in North Africa, is well-developed in this specialty, with the largest number of neurosurgeons among all African countries. This article provides insight into neurosurgical training in Egypt, the challenges African neurosurgeons are facing, and the requirements needed to enhance neurosurgical education and build up the required neurosurgical capacity in Africa.
The information presented in the current work was collected from databases of the Egyptian Society of Neurological Surgeons and the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies.
There are two types of neurosurgical certification in Egypt. The first type is granted by the universities (MD), and the second is awarded by the Ministry of Health (Fellow of Neurosurgery). The program in both types ranges from 6 to 9 years. The number of qualified neurosurgeons in Egypt constitutes one-third of the total number of African neurosurgeons. There is a significant shortage of neurological surgeons in Africa, and the distribution is entirely unbalanced, with the majority of neurosurgeons concentrated in the North and South regions. The most important challenge facing neurosurgery in Africa is lack of resources, which is considered to be the main obstacle to the development of neurosurgery. Other challenges include the limited number of neurosurgeons, lack of training programs, and lack of collaboration among the different regions.
Proper collaboration among the different regions within the African continent regarding neurosurgical education will enhance African neurosurgical capacity and make neurosurgery an independent specialty. The definite functional polarity among different regions, regarding both the number of qualified neurosurgeons and the neurosurgical capacity, is an important factor that could help in the development of neurosurgery in this continent.
非洲的神经外科学发展仍然严重滞后。埃及位于北非，在该专业领域高度发达，其神经外科医生数量在所有非洲国家中位居首位。本文深入探讨了埃及的神经外科培训、非洲神经外科医生所面临的挑战，以及提高神经外科学教育水平和在非洲建立必要神经外科学能力所需的条件。
本研究中的信息来源于埃及神经外科学会和世界神经外科学会联合会的数据库。
埃及有两种类型的神经外科认证。第一种是由大学授予的（医学博士），第二种是由卫生部授予的（神经外科研究员）。这两种类型的课程时长均为 6 至 9 年。埃及合格的神经外科医生人数占非洲神经外科医生总数的三分之一。非洲神经外科医生严重短缺，分布极不平衡，大多数神经外科医生集中在北部和南部地区。非洲神经外科学面临的最大挑战是资源匮乏，这被认为是神经外科学发展的主要障碍。其他挑战包括神经外科医生数量有限、缺乏培训计划以及不同地区之间缺乏合作。
非洲大陆不同地区之间就神经外科学教育进行适当合作，将提高非洲的神经外科学能力，使神经外科学成为一个独立的专业。不同地区之间在合格神经外科医生人数和神经外科学能力方面存在明确的功能差异，这是促进该大陆神经外科学发展的一个重要因素。
