Teaching staff

Abstract

Education of a surgeon is a lifelong process where two components can be distinguished: one is what may be called the formal curriculum and is analyzed according to the current principles of medical education using a somewhat reductionist and predominantly quantitative approach. It often begins with definition of the educational goals which, in our discipline, are usually aimed at training a “general neurosurgeon”. It should be stated, however, that the extent to which it is permissible to demand from those who have just finished their training complete technical autonomy in dealing with the most complex pathologies that constitute general practice in our specialty, is not at all clear. In the United States, residents who have finished a training program usually have to move elsewhere, joining other surgeons in group practices or go to specific areas for additional training. In Europe, in many instances, the “training period” does not end with conclusion of a six-year-program since trainees remain in the same clinical environment for a few additional years. But there is necessarily a fair amount of variation among the different countries in Europe concerning the very definition of the training goals and methodology that is required for its fulfilment.