Crossing boundaries in neurosurgical education: The Pan-African EANS-supported course as a blueprint for global...

Neurosurgical training in Africa is critically limited and expensive. The European Association of Neurosurgical Societies( EANS ) Global Humanitarian Committee partnered with Continental African Neurosurgical Societies( CAANS ), West African College of Surgeons( WACS ), and College of Surgeons of East, Central & Southern Africa( COSECSA ) to adapt its established curriculum of the training courses for African residents&early-career neurosurgeons and piloted the First Pan-African course in May 2025.

Does a collaborative, context-adapted international Pan-African EANS course enhance neurosurgical knowledge in resource-limited African settings and prove feasible for capacity building in LMIC practice?

The five-day Pan-African Neurosurgery Training Course (May 2025, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) covered vascular neurosurgery&skull base. Fifty-eight pre-course and 61 post-course surveys assessed participant demographics, institutional resources, baseline/post-training self-rated knowledge (5-point scale), and feedback from 19 nations.

Mean knowledge scores increased from 2.5 → 4.1 for vascular neurosurgery (64.0 % improvement, P < 0.001) and 2.6 → 4.0 for skull base (53.8 % improvement, P < 0.001). Overall course quality was 4.7/5. Interactive formats (breakout sessions/discussion groups) were highest-rated (4.8/5), content adaptation to LMIC-settings was 4.5/5. All participants expressed interest in future courses; 95.1 % were willing to serve as future faculty and indicated institutions could host future courses. Interest in partnerships: training workshops(90.2 %), research collaboration(90.2 %), fellow exchanges(88.3 %).

This inaugural Pan-African EANS-supported training course demonstrates that collaborative, contextually adapted education effectively enhances neurosurgical knowledge in resource-constrained settings. Exceptional satisfaction, substantial knowledge gains, and universal demand for continuation provide strong evidence for program expansion. This reproducible model establishes a scalable framework for sustainable capacity-building across Africa.