Carving a Path to the Brain: A Study on Neurosurgery Career Choices.

BACKGROUND: Medical students often face challenges in choosing a career path due to limited exposure to specialized fields like neurosurgery. Understanding their perceptions and experiences is crucial in addressing the gaps in neurosurgical education and inspiring future neurosurgeons. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 461 medical students, utilizing convenience sampling. Data collection employed a validated, self-administered tool. Statistical analysis in SPSS Version 25 included t-tests and chi-square tests, comparing scores based on age, gender, year of study, and exposure to the formal neurosurgical rotations in their institute. Significance value was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: In the study of 461 medical students, 79.8% identified with the 19-23 age group, and 63.8% affirmed neurosurgery exposure. Medical students' perceptions included: 167 (36.3%) students found neurosurgery teaching sufficient; 164 (35.6%) disagreed that obtaining neurosurgical history is difficult; 224 (48.6%) agreed on neurosurgical disease complexity; and 250 (54.2%) found these diseases challenging and interesting. A majority of 183 (39.7%) respondents agreed that neurosurgical diseases had poor outcomes. Regarding training for neurosurgical surgery, 205 (44.5%) participants strongly agreed on its length, and 215 (46.7%) consented to extensive operating hours. However, 167 (36.3%) strongly disagreed about the ample job prospects in Pakistan. CONCLUSIONS: Enhancing neurosurgery education with quality, consistency, and adaptability is essential to bridge gaps and inspire future neurosurgeons. These findings guide improvements in educational programs, preparing a skilled workforce to meet evolving health-care demands.

Outcomes, Symptomatology, and Mortality of Children Presenting With Bacterial Meningitis at Allied Hospitals of Rawalpindi Medical University, Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction Bacterial meningitis (BM) is a neurologic emergency mainly affecting children under the age of two. Clinical symptoms are rarely evident in children, thus making a diagnosis is a challenge. Antibiotic therapy should be started timely to ensure the avoidance of significant morbidity and mortality. This study aims to assess the outcomes, mortality, and symptomatology of children presenting with BM in allied hospitals of Rawalpindi Medical University, Pakistan. Methods It is a cross-sectional study employing a sample size of 201, conducted at the Allied Hospitals of Rawalpindi Medical University, Pakistan from a period of January 2023 to August 2023. Non-probability convenience sampling was used. Children aged between newborns and 14 years of age with a confirmed diagnosis of bacterial meningitis were included in this study. The study population was divided into five different age groups. Three different outcomes were studied including complete recovery, development of complications, and death. Data was entered into and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Descriptive statistics were applied to the demographic data. The chi-square analytical test was applied to study the association between the categorical variables. Results One hundred nineteen (59.2%) of the study's population were males. One hundred twenty-six (62.7%) of the patients were born through a spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD). The majority (54%) of the study population were infants. Twenty-three percent were newborns, 13% were toddlers, 6% were preschool children, and 4% were school-age children. The majority (85%) of the study participants belonged to lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Ninety percent of the cases had symptoms of fever, seizures, and poor feeding. Neck stiffness was significantly associated with death as an outcome (p-value=0.01). The overall mortality amongst the study population was 20%. Forty-nine percent of the study population recovered completely, whereas 31% had complications following the diagnosis. Neonates had a higher mortality rate than infants (45% vs 9% respectively). Conclusion The most common presenting symptoms were fever, vomiting, seizures, and neck stiffness. Poor feeding was also seen in most cases. The rate of complications and death is observed to be relatively higher following the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis as compared to rates in the surrounding and developed countries. Out of all signs and symptoms, the presence of neck stiffness was significantly associated with death as an outcome among children with bacterial meningitis.