Barriers Encountered Toward Pursuing a Neurosurgical Career: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Medical Students, Interns, and Junior Doctors in Africa.

BACKGROUND: Africa has an increased burden of neurosurgical diseases with an estimate of 1,986,392 neurosurgical cases, 108,824 neurosurgical case capacity, and 1,877,568 case deficits yearly. Literature suggests that about 8420 neurosurgeons are needed to fill this vast gap. The main objective of this study is to elucidate barriers encountered in pursuing neurosurgery training in the African context. METHODS: A cross-sectional electronic survey, developed in English and subsequently translated into French, was utilized. This was disseminated among medical students, medical interns, and junior doctors in all 5 African regions. RESULTS: A total of 491 responses were received from the following 5 African regions: West Africa (30.5%), East Africa (30.3%), Central Africa (18.1%), North Africa (11.8%), and Southern Africa (9.2%). Of the participants, 55.2% were men and 44.8% were women. Seventy-six percent of respondents were aware of the neurosurgery deficit in Africa. Barriers to pursuing neurosurgery included discouragement from others over lack of an "ideal personality" trait, culture/cultural beliefs as related to gender roles, lack of mentorship, inadequate neurosurgical training opportunities, poor health infrastructure for neurosurgical practice in Africa, poor patient outcomes, and challenges with work/life balance were some of the barriers highlighted to pursuing neurosurgical career on the continent. CONCLUSION: Even with its robust population growth, Africa is not producing enough neurosurgeons to meet the demands of the population due to several barriers. Delineating these challenges and barriers represents an important step in developing sustainable mechanisms for recruitment, training, mentorship, and support of burgeoning African neurosurgeons.

Global head and neck surgery research during the COVID pandemic: A bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, access to otolaryngology and head-and-neck surgery was limited in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The pandemic has increased the burden on LMIC health systems by causing unanticipated expenses, delayed care, and changes in research activity. We aimed to assess the landscape of global ENT research during the pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors developed a search strategy composed of the following keywords: "otolaryngology," "head and neck surgery," and "low- and middle-income countries." Then, they searched eleven citation databases via the Web of Science from January 01, 2020, to May 03, 2021. They imported the result as metadata into VosViewer and ran bibliometric analyses to identify the most influential institutions, countries, and themes. RESULTS: During the study period, 3077 articles were published. Two hundred eighty-nine articles (9%) mentioned COVID-19 explicitly. The second most common theme was pediatric ENT (223 articles, 7%). The United States had the most publications [1616 articles, 12,033 citations, and 2986 total link strength (TLS)], followed by China (336 articles, 10,981 citations, and 571 TLS). South Africa, the first African country, was fourth (302 articles, 699 citations, and 908 TLS), while Brazil, the first South American country, was seventh (158 articles, 582 citations, and 376 TLS). The most prolific institution was the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (186 articles, 1110 citations, and 674 TLS). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 was the most common research theme during the pandemic, surpassing pediatric ENT.