Peculiarities of training neurosurgeons in modern conditions using the example of a number of foreign countries

Abstract

The possibility of unifying the training of neurosurgeons using the experience of different countries seems to be the most promising. At the same time, the uniqueness of the countries, the historical facts of the development of the neurosurgical specialty, scientific and technical achievements in them determined the diversity and specificity of individual neurosurgical schools. As a result, there is no unified model for a neurosurgical training program. In order to study the peculiarities of training neurosurgeons in foreign countries for the subsequent development of optimal models for training and advanced training of neurosurgery specialists in the Russian Federation, a search for foreign information was conducted in the databases Scopus, Web of Science, MedLine, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Global Health, CyberLeninka, eLibrary.ru, RSCI for 2015–2022 to study the peculiarities of training neurosurgeons in the USA, England, Germany, Italy, Turkey. The analysis undertaken showed that the scope and training programs for neurosurgeons have their own characteristics in a number of countries. Thus, the duration of residency training in neurosurgery varies from 2 years in Russia to 6 years in Italy, Germany and 8 years in the UK. In the USA, postgraduate education for training a neurosurgeon includes 7 years of residency. Training programs also differ: in Italy they focus on primarily mastering practical skills; in Germany, during a 6-year training program, the student must master a wide range of theoretical and practical surgical skills. In the UK, training takes place in several stages: at the initial stage, mastering basic surgical skills common to all surgical specialties, skills and competencies in the field of basic neurosurgical care and emergency medicine. Competencies are further developed in relation to traumatic brain injury, degenerative spinal diseases, neuro-oncology and many other conditions. The final stage of training in the UK is in-depth neurosurgical training with the student spending a large amount of time in the operating room. In the USA, the “red thread” is the interdisciplinary integration of competencies and technologies. International cooperation within the framework of global neurosurgery is considered as the main vector for the development of the neurosurgical industry. The possibility of unifying the training of neurosurgeons using the experience of different countries and creating a global platform for the exchange of knowledge in the field of neurosurgery seem to be the most promising and useful in revising the training programs for neurosurgeons in our country.