• Brandon A Santhumayor, Adrian Chen, Isabelle Pelcher, Evan Cater, Akash Mishra, Max Ward, Timothy G White, Michael Schulder, Daniel M Sciubba, Kevin J Tracey, and Griffin R Baum.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Northwell Health, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, New York, USA. Electronic address: bsmayor98@gmail.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2024 Sep 1; 189: 249255249-255.

BackgroundMedical students are increasingly seeking out research opportunities to build their skills and network with future colleagues. Medical student-led conferences are an excellent endeavor to achieve this goal.MethodsThe American Association of Neurological Surgeons student chapter at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell designed an in-person medical student research symposium alongside the Northwell Health Department of Neurosurgery. Postconference feedback forms were sent out digitally to student attendees to evaluate event planning and execution and responses were given on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest score).ResultsIn December 2023, the Northeast Medical Student Research Symposium was held with over 80 participants and 52 medical student presenters. Keynote speakers delivered lectures geared toward students interested in neurosurgery and neuroscience research, followed by an interactive poster board session and resident/attending networking dinner. After the conference, students affirmed that they learned more about neuroscience research after the event (mean: 4.3), were more inclined to attend other neuroscience research events in the future (mean: 4.7), and would attend this event if held next year (mean: 4.8). The poster sessions (mean: 4.75) and keynote lectures (mean: 5) were the highest rated events, while the resident/attending networking dinner (mean: 3.6) was a potential area for improvement.ConclusionsRegional in-person conferences are an excellent way to foster interest in neurosurgery and neuroscience research, network with like-minded peers, and prepare students for presentations at national meetings.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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