State of African neurosurgical education: a protocol for an analysis of publicly available curricula

Abstract

Abstract Background Africa bears >15% of the global burden of neurosurgical disease. Yet to date, Africa still has the lowest neurosurgical workforce density globally, and efforts to fill this gap by 2030 need to be multiplied. Although the past decade has seen an increase in neurosurgery residency programs in the continent, it is unclear how these residency programs are similar or viable. This study aims to highlight the current status of neurosurgical training in Africa as well as the differences within departments, countries or African regions. Methods A literature search using keywords related to ‘neurosurgery’, ‘training’, and ‘Africa’ and relevant names of African countries will be performed on PubMed and Google Scholar. If unavailable online, the authors will contact local neurosurgeons at identified training programmes for their curricula. The residency curricula collected will be analysed against a standardized and validated medical education curriculum viability tool. Results The primary aim will be the description of African neurosurgical curricula. In addition, the authors will perform a comparative analysis of the identified African neurosurgical curricula using a standardized and validated medical education curriculum viability tool. Discussion This study will be the first to evaluate the current landscape of neurosurgery training in Africa and will highlight pertinent themes that may be used to guide further research. The findings will inform health system strengthening efforts by local training programme directors, governments, policymakers and stakeholders.