• Mustafa Motiwala, Sonia Ajmera, Olutomi Akinduro, David Wallace, Sebastian P Norrdahl, Andrew Schultz, Brittany Fraser, Hassan Saad, Melissa Justo, Pooja Dave, Vincent Nguyen, Brandy Vaughn, L Madison Michael, and Paul Klimo.
• University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 Feb 1; 122: e598-e605.

BackgroundIt is not unusual to find neurosurgeons in the news and entertainment. The present study examined the portrayal of neurosurgeons by major print and online media sources.MethodsTwo search strategies identified articles from October 1, 2012 to October 1, 2017 containing the keyword "neurosurgeon." The top 25 newspapers in the United States, determined by their circulation, were searched using the LexisNexis Academic or NewsBank databases; a layman's Google News search was used to collect online stories. Each identified article was evaluated to confirm the relevance and then examined for content. Relevant characteristics for each article and neurosurgeon were determined and analyzed.ResultsOur searches returned 1005 articles comprising 561 unique stories about 203 different neurosurgeons. One particular neurosurgeon had 459 reports (45.7%). More articles were reported in 2015 (405; 40.3%) than any other single year. Most articles featured male neurosurgeons (879; 87.1%) and neurosurgeons who had been practicing for >20 years (636; 63.0%), with just 10 institutions accounting for the training of most of them (733; 72.6%). The articles were classified as positive (270; 26.9%), negative (356; 35.4%), or neutral (379; 37.7%) in terms of their reflection on the field of neurosurgery. The odds of a negative story were greater for male neurosurgeons, within 10 years of residency completion, and in a nonacademic position.ConclusionsNeurosurgeons are naturally subject to media coverage, and we must be cognizant that this predilection can serve as both an occupational advantage and an occupational hazard.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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