[Neurophobia]

Neurophobia is the fear of neurological diseases. Its main symptom is that medical students and young doctors are not able to utilize their basic neurological knowledge at the bedside. According to statistics, every second student suffers from neurophobia. This attitude could explain why in the last two decades less and less young doctors wanted to become neurologist. Medical students complain that they receive no instructions, and are afraid of loosing their interest and of facing the failure of their clinical competence. The hardship of neurology was explained by the insufficient knowledge of anatomy and the infrequent encounter with patients. Even general practitioners have anxiety about neurological patients. The loss of interest in the neurosciences seems to be associated with insensitivity to human-centered culture and with the corruption of empathic thinking. The professional burnout of medical doctors and students can be explained by stress, loss of respect, permanent competition, independence that interferes with responsibility, stiff hierarchy of the medical establishment, fear of diagnostic failures and of economical difficulties. The scores of depression were higher in female students than in males. The idea of the "good neurologist" has been changed. Business-oriented care, shortage of time, and financial restrictions corroded conventional practice and ceased vocational idealism. At present, personal teaching is being transformed into impersonal multimedia instruction and learning. Because of the drastic change of values, the age of inner-oriented professionals has ended also in medicine. Medical doctors follow even less the traditional path of professional behavior, but according to social demands, they choose their specialization for financial reasons. The highly esteemed social status of neurologists and psychiatrists is going to sink in Europe. To reduce neurophobia it would be desirable 1. to introduce neurology training in the early years of medical school; 2. to teach neurology in all semesters, 3. to assure the effective teaching of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, 4. to organize more one-to-one teacher-student communication. In the United States, residents participate in teaching during their residency training. To master neurology dedicated teachers are needed whom neurology residents would have to meet personally with optimal frequency. However, these requirements seem to fail because of the chiefly technical character of the actual reforms.