What do neurosurgical trainees think about neuro-interventional training and service provision in the United Kingdom?

Abstract

Background: There is a disparity between the number of interventional neuroradiologists (INRs) in the UK and the number needed to provide a comprehensive 24/7 interventional neurovascular service. It is recognized that trainees from other specialties such as neurosurgery may be able to provide INR services after appropriate training. At present gaining skills in INR is not a mandatory requirement of the neurosurgical training curriculum in the UK. The views on this issue of current neurosurgical trainees are unknown. We aimed to address this knowledge gap. Methods: We performed an anonymized online survey to gauge the opinion of neurosurgical trainees about their attitudes to INR training and service provision. Results: 90/265 (34%) UK neurosurgical trainees responded to the survey. About 56% of respondents reported they were likely or very likely to pursue interventional training if a curriculum was approved by the general medical council. About 80% thought training should take up to 2 years. About 90% of those very likely or likely to pursue INR wanted a hybrid neurosurgical practice and 92% were willing to provide endovascular services out of hours. Conclusion: The responses described suggest that a significant proportion of neurosurgical trainees would pursue INR training and have realistic expectation regarding out of hours commitment and length of training.