[What should a medical student know about neurology? A review]

To analyze the neurologic knowledge and abilities that the medical student should acquire during the undergraduated learning.

A review of the neurologic knowledge and abilities that the undergraduate medical student should acquire was undertaken by a search in Medline. Also, an analysis of neurological programmes in the 28 webs of the Spanish universities with medical degree was performed. According to the recommendations of the main international neurological societies, during the medicine undergraduate degree, the students must learn the clinical ability to perform a meaningful clinical and neurological examination, and acquire the clinical skills to initiate appropriate investigations and management of the most frequent, urgent or treatable neurological illnesses. Also the student must have the awareness in which is appropriate to request a neurological consultation with a specialist. The multiple learning strategies to acquire these capacities are discussed. The data obtained in the 28 webs shows inadequacies to international recommendations and supported the Spanish White Book on undergraduate medical education statement about the need of a reform of the undergraduate training in Spain.

The neurological training of the medical student in Spain may have several transformations to be adapted to the international recommendations.