• Myron L Rolle, Ashley Williams, Annegien Boeykens, Deen L Garba, Rachel McLellan, Michael Francis, and Dos Santos RubioEllianneEDepartment of Neurosurgery, Erasmus Medical Center, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Neurosurgery, Curaçao Medical Center, Willemstad, The Netherlands..
• Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2023 Nov 1; 179: e150e159e150-e159.

BackgroundThe neurosurgical workforce in the Caribbean and surrounding countries is largely unknown due to the diversity in cultural, linguistic, political, financial disparities, and colonial history between the countries. About 45 neurosurgeons serve 16 million people in the Caribbean Community and Common Market, a trade alliance including most Caribbean nations. We aimed to understand the current scope of neurosurgical workforce in this region while highlighting any system challenges and potential solutions for upscaling the workforce.MethodsWe surveyed neurosurgeons within Caribbean countries and surrounding countries online using qualitative and quantitative methods via Qualtrics.ResultsOf the 38 countries within the Caribbean and surrounding countries, 26 (68%) were surveyed and of which 18 (69%) replied. In total, 172 regional neurosurgeons were identified, of which 61 (35%) replied-with a majority of general neurosurgeons (56%). Remarkably, the majority of countries failed to meet the threshold workforce density for safe health care-either expressed by full-time equivalent neurosurgeons or neurosurgical centers (see table). Most neurosurgical practices confirmed receiving or sending medical referrals. If so, most referrals took longer than 8 hours without significant difference regarding the destination. Lastly, challenges confronting neurosurgical advancement were found in the following: technology and equipment (40%), trained personnel (31%), hospital or medical center infrastructure (14%), neurosurgical education, and training (44%).ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first qualitative and quantitative study exploring the current status of the neurosurgical workforce within the Caribbean and surrounding countries. Identifying resources and challenges can contribute to improving regionalized neurosurgical care.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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