Department of Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Department of Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
World Neurosurg. 2021 Aug;152:e250-e265. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2021.05.076. Epub 2021 May 28.
Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, medical students training in neurosurgery relied on external subinternships at institutions nationwide for immersive educational experiences and to increase their odds of matching. However, external rotations for the 2020-2021 cycle were suspended given concerns of spreading COVID-19. Our objective was to provide foundational neurosurgical knowledge expected of interns, bootcamp-style instruction in basic procedures, and preinterview networking opportunities for students in an accessible, virtual format.
The virtual neurosurgery course consisted of 16 biweekly 1-hour seminars over a 2-month period. Participants completed comprehensive precourse and postcourse surveys assessing their backgrounds, confidence in diverse neurosurgical concepts, and opinions of the qualities of the seminars. Responses from students completing both precourse and postcourse surveys were included.
An average of 82 students participated live in each weekly lecture (range, 41-150). Thirty-two participants completed both surveys. On a 1-10 scale self-assessing baseline confidence in neurosurgical concepts, participants were most confident in neuroendocrinology (6.79 ± 0.31) and least confident in spine oncology (4.24 ± 0.44), with an average of 5.05 ± 0.32 across all topics. Quality ratings for all seminars were favorable. The mean postcourse confidence was 7.79 ± 0.19, representing an improvement of 3.13 ± 0.38 (P < 0.0001).
Feedback on seminar quality and improvements in confidence in neurosurgical topics suggest that an interactive virtual course may be an effective means of improving students' foundational neurosurgical knowledge and providing networking opportunities before application cycles. Comparison with in-person rotations when these are reestablished may help define roles for these tools.
在 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行之前，神经外科学专业的医学生依赖于全国各机构的外部实习来获得沉浸式教育体验，并增加他们的匹配机会。然而，由于担心 COVID-19 的传播，2020-2021 周期的外部轮转被暂停。我们的目标是以一种易于访问的虚拟形式，为学生提供预期的住院医师基础神经外科知识、基础手术训练营式指导以及预面试网络机会。
虚拟神经外科学课程包括在两个月的时间内进行 16 次双周 1 小时的研讨会。参与者完成了全面的课前和课后调查，评估他们的背景、对各种神经外科概念的信心以及对研讨会质量的看法。仅包括完成课前和课后调查的学生的回复。
平均每周有 82 名学生实时参加每次讲座（范围为 41-150 名）。32 名参与者完成了两次调查。在自我评估神经外科概念的基础信心的 1-10 分制中，参与者对神经内分泌学最有信心（6.79 ± 0.31），对脊柱肿瘤学最不有信心（4.24 ± 0.44），所有主题的平均得分为 5.05 ± 0.32。所有研讨会的质量评分都很好。课后的平均信心得分为 7.79 ± 0.19，代表提高了 3.13 ± 0.38（P < 0.0001）。
对研讨会质量的反馈以及对神经外科主题信心的提高表明，互动式虚拟课程可能是提高学生基础神经外科知识和提供申请周期前网络机会的有效手段。当重新建立时，与现场轮转进行比较可能有助于定义这些工具的作用。
