SAN DIEGO — Medical students perceive the specialty of adult neurology as offering only limited treatment options, with poor patient outcomes. In addition, they find neuropathophysiology to be complicated and hard to understand, judging from the findings of a survey of 113 third-year medical students, only 2 of whom had settled on adult neurology as the specialty they planned to pursue.
“Also, [respondents] didn't feel there [would be] a lot of technological advances in the future of neurology,” said Shara D. Steiner, reporting in a poster session at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
Survey respondents rated the quality of their neurologic education as suboptimal in neurogenetics, neuropsychiatry, and the neurologic exam. “The didactic component of the first 2 years of medical school needs to be improved in the area of neurology, neuroscience, and neurophysiology,” she said.
Overall, the most important factor that influences the attitudes of third-year medical students toward a career in adult neurology is the perceived quality of clinical neurology teaching. The second most important factor is the perceived knowledge, professionalism, and enthusiasm of neurology professors, said Ms. Steiner, a third-year medical student at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“Medical students will be most interested in becoming a neurologist if their education and their clinical experience really fosters a spark,” she said in an interview.
The finding is important as the field seeks to attract junior medical students. “Every year there are residency spots in adult neurology that go unfilled,” she noted.
For the study, 113 third-year medical students from seven medical schools were surveyed before the start of their neurology clerkship. A 45-item questionnaire developed by Ms. Steiner and her associates assessed the students' attitudes toward adult neurology and asked them to rank the factors that were most influential in their choosing or excluding the field as a career choice.
Respondents included medical students from the University of Miami, Tufts University, New York Medical College, Tulane University, Ross University, Nova Southeastern, and the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. The mean age of respondents was 26 years, and 57% were male.
The most common intended career choices reported by respondents were pediatrics (14), a subspecialty (9), internal medicine (7), and family practice (5). Of the 113 students surveyed, 52 were undecided.