• Neha Siddiqui, Vamsi P Reddy, James L Rogers, Donald K E Detchou, Imaima Casubhoy, Rhea Gopali, Subhang Bhalla, Mika Janbahan, Emily Morris, Meghna Priyanka Peesapati, and Nitin Agarwal.
• Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2022 Sep 1; 165: e635e642e635-e642.

ObjectiveA career in academic neurosurgery is an arduous endeavor. Specific factors influencing physician practice preferences remain unclear. This study analyzes data from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons membership identifying the impact of several demographic and educational characteristics influencing neurosurgical career choices centered on academia, private practice, or a combination in the United States.MethodsA list of all current neurosurgeons was obtained from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons membership, and information on physician characteristics was collected via internet searches and institutional databases. The practice type of all neurosurgeons considered in this study were categorized as follows: private practice, academic, or a combination of private practice and academic, termed privademic. These data were subsequently correlated to race, gender, current age, training at a top 40 National Institutes of Health-funded medical school or residency program, and current practice.ResultsThe median age of private practice and academic neurosurgeons was 58.18 and 53.61 years, respectively (P < 0.001). Age was significantly associated with practicing in an academic setting (odds ratio 0.96), with younger neurosurgeons pursuing careers in academia. Data indicated a positive and statistically significant contribution of female gender (P < 0.001) and training at a top-40 National Institutes of Health-funded institution to practicing in an academic setting (P < 0.01).ConclusionsNeurosurgery as a field has grown significantly over the past century. The authors recommend that future efforts seek to diversify the neurosurgical workforce by considering practice setting, demographic characteristics, and educational background.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

13 keywords...

hide…