Özet:

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the thoughts of medical faculty students in Türkiye about neurosurgery and the reasons for the low neurosurgery exam results. Methods: Between 2014 and 2021, the lowest and highest the Examination for Specialty in Medicine (ESM) scores of eight hundred students who started neurosurgery residency in 14 exam periods in Türkiye were determined. The scores of the other 39 specialties in the same exams were also determined, and they were compared with neurosurgery scores. Eight quotas for Aerospace Medicine and Medical Ecology and Hydroclimatology with insufficient data were excluded from the study. One hundred eighty-nine quotas and scores for military health services and ninety-three for international students were excluded as their scores are calculated differently. Moreover, in the 2022-2023 academic year, a survey was conducted with the students of 12 medical faculties in all geographical regions in Türkiye. 3590 students participated in the study. Participants answered 11 questions about career choices and neurosurgery. Results: The mean neurosurgery ESM score was 53.3±1.31. It was seen that 21.8% (n=223) of the 1023 neurosurgery quotas were not preferred. The ranking of neurosurgery scores for ESM was between 29th and 36th among 40 specialties. The average scores of neurosurgery in metropolitan city faculties were significantly higher than in other university hospitals and institutional hospitals (p = 0,008, p = 0,002; respectively). The average age of 3590 students who answered all questions in the survey was 22.4. 44% were women (n=1578), and 56% were men (n=2012). Students were less interested in surgical specialties in their senior year (p=0.004). While those considering a career in neurosurgery were 22.3% in the first two years, this rate decreased to 6.3% in the last two years (p<0.001). The rate of those who wanted residency programs in metropolitan cities was 90.5%. University hospitals were preferred more than training and research hospitals affiliated with the Ministry of Health in all branches (p=0.039). Three-quarters of the students had negative opinions about the neurosurgery specialty. Conclusions: The reasons why neurosurgery is a less favored specialty are financial gain, negative thoughts about work-life balance and course difficulty. To get more successful students to choose neurosurgery, the successful students in the first grades should be targeted, and neurosurgery should be well introduced.

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