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Training of Neurosurgeons

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Neurosurgical Ethics in Practice: Value-based Medicine

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Abstract

It is essential to future generations that neurosurgeons of today properly train young men and women to be the neurosurgeons of tomorrow and to carry on our noble profession. However, teaching surgery is fraught with ethical tensions, the central one being the competing forces of giving impeccable care to today’s patient while delegating enough responsibility in a safe manner to adequately teach residents to perform what can be very complex and challenging acts. What if in the act of allowing the resident perform part of the surgery a mistake is made that the staff neurosurgeon probably would not have made and the patient suffers for it? Utilitarians might still justify it because what the resident learned from this one patient experience might save many patients in the future.

In this chapter the ethical tensions in neurosurgical education are explored. Essential concepts in surgical training are discussed: autonomy, truth-telling, safety, surgical competence, rights of trainees, and the resident-patient relationship.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8, Canada

    George M. Ibrahim MD

  2. Division of Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8, Canada

    Mark Bernstein MD, MHSc, FRCSC

Authors
  1. George M. Ibrahim MD
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  2. Mark Bernstein MD, MHSc, FRCSC
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark Bernstein MD, MHSc, FRCSC .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Neurosurgery, King Fahd University Hospital, Dammam University, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

    Ahmed Ammar

  2. Division of Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Mark Bernstein

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Ibrahim, G.M., Bernstein, M. (2014). Training of Neurosurgeons. In: Ammar, A., Bernstein, M. (eds) Neurosurgical Ethics in Practice: Value-based Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54980-9_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54980-9_19

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-54979-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-54980-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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