The impact of a neurosurgical boot camp upon medical student preparedness for sub-internships

The sub-internship is a formative experience for neurosurgical applicants. No formal neurosurgery sub-internship curriculum exists, with students preparing via ad hoc online resources and guidance from mentors. Students can feel unprepared for these crucial rotations, impacting their subsequent performance and application success. Therefore, we developed a neurosurgical sub-internship boot camp and evaluated its impact on student preparedness.

A one-day boot camp was conducted, including lectures and a pig cadaver lab. Surveys were distributed before and after to assess competency and comfort with neurosurgery topics and skills, including knowledge-based multiple-choice questions. Pre- and post-scores were compared with one-sided paired t-tests; a p-value < 0.05 was considered significant.

Attendees included 30 in-person and 80 virtual students. Both pre-and post-surveys were completed by 22 students, 10 (45 %) in-person and 12 (55 %) virtual. Attendees were predominantly male (73 %) and third-year medical students (55 %). Participants' self-reported knowledge increased by a mean of >=1 point on a 1-5 scale within skull base, spine, and trauma domains (p < 0.001). Participants self-reported preparedness increased by a mean of >=1 point for extraventricular drain placement (p < 0.001), burr hole drilling (p < 0.001), shunt reprogramming (p < 0.001), patient positioning (p = 0.004), pedicle screw placement (p < 0.001), drain removal (p < 0.001), and image guidance registration (p = 0.009). Participants reported feeling more prepared for sub-internships (p < 0.001) with a better grasp of expectations (p < 0.001). Specifically, students felt more confident in performing a neurological exam (p < 0.001), creating spine pathology differentials (p < 0.001), reading brain and spine images (p < 0.001), and performing well on overnight call (p = 0.004). For content-based questions, participant scores increased by an average of 2 out of 14 points (14.2 %) after boot camp participation (p < 0.001).

Through the boot camp, students improved their knowledge and felt more prepared for upcoming rotations. Other institutions can conduct similar boot camps at minimal cost, expanding access to these critical educational opportunities.