Project Synapse: Efficacy of a Youth Outreach Program to Increase Diversity in Neurosurgery

There is a lack of diversity within neurosurgery; in 2019, only 12%, 4%, and 5% of neurosurgeons identify as female, black, and Latinx respectively. Project Synapse, a youth outreach initiative, aims to diversify the neurosurgical workforce by exposing youth from underrepresented minority (URM) backgrounds to neurosurgery. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the outcomes of the first 2 years of Project Synapse.

Project Synapse hosted 7, 1-hour educational sessions; 457 middle and high school students from 17 Chicago schools participated. Prior to the workshop, students completed a survey containing 6-8 Likert-scale questions evaluating student attitudes towards medicine/neurosurgery and 5 true/false neuroscience knowledge questions. The survey was readministered postsession and scores were compared. Demographic information was captured.

86% of participants identified as people of color, 14% as Hispanic or Latino and 63% as Female. Compared to pre-session, middle school students were significantly more likely to be interested in neuroscience (p = 0.042) and becoming a neurosurgeon (p = 0.004). High school students were significantly more likely to indicate interest in neuroscience (p = 0.018) and neurosurgery (p = 0.015), as well as familiarity with the career pathway to becoming a doctor (p = 0.018) and a neurosurgeon (p < 0.001). Student neuroscience knowledge significantly increased for both middle (p < 0.001) and high school (p < 0.001) students.

Physician-led neuroscience educational events can provide novel learning opportunities for URM students. Educational events for middle school students offer the potential to engage youth as their foundational career opinions are forming.