Short-Term Didactic Lecture Course and Neurosurgical Knowledge of Emergency Medicine Residents

Neurological emergencies are common causes of emergency department visits. The need for emergency medicine (EM) physicians and/or specialists worldwide is growing to meet this requirement. Delivery of time-sensitive interventions and lifesaving care requires training. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge of EM residents in neurosurgical emergencies before and after holding an education course. In this cross-sectional study, 28 EM residents during their first and second years of training were evaluated. A multiple choice questionnaire containing 60 questions about neurosurgical emergencies (radiology, cranial, spinal and spinal cord, and pediatrics) was designed by 3 neurosurgeons. Without any prior notification, pre-training exam was taken. A short-term course of education via didactic lectures in 8 sessions was held after the first exam. At the end of the course, participants were tested again in the similar conditions as the pre-training test. Scores were analyzed using paired t-tests. Performance of residents was significantly improved from pre-training test with mean scores from 35.7 to 42.03 on post-training test (P < 0.001). Scores between males and females in the two exams were not significantly different (P = 0.063). The second-year residents had a significantly better performance compared to the one-year residents (P < 0.001). At present, there is no standard education program that provides the optimum needs for EM residency training. To deal with the need of improving EM residency education in neurosurgical emergencies, teaching by neurosurgeons either through formal lectures and clinical rotations or other similar educational methods could be advantageous