Letter: Commentary: Crossing the Synaptic Cleft: The Pursuit of Neurosurgery by Black Medical Students.

Abstract

To the Editor: We read with great interest the article from Garba and Rolle1 on generating and sustaining additional vesicles for moving Black medical students across the synapse toward neurosurgical training and aimed to discourse at great length the collective vision toward advancing Black pathways. According to the National Resident Matching Program (Washington, District of Columbia, USA), for the 2021 to 2022 application cycle, 115 US training programs collectively offered 234 training positions in neurological surgery.2 The year prior, Black women only made up 5.55% (N = 13 of 234) of all upcoming neurosurgery residents at US training programs.3 As it stands, although there is a pipeline initiative for recruiting young minority men, including Black men, to the field of neurosurgery,4 there exist no similar efforts to promote the career development of Black women specifically. Since 1989, efforts from Women in Neurosurgery5 have aided in these efforts, but we believe the current momentum requires at once departmental, institutional, and pipeline efforts to aid Black women in both securing training and neurosurgery and advancing with the ranks of neurosurgical societies. On November 19, 2021, at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting6 in Austin, Texas, the recently instituted American Society of Black Neurosurgeons, Inc (ASBN)7 was officially introduced to the neurosurgery community at large. This development to galvanize the advancement of Black neurosurgeons is encouraging, and we believe that it is a key strategy with a multiprong approach. As next step, the ASBN7 could facilitate the recruitment of Black applicants, broadly, and Black women, specifically, through professional development, research projects with opportunities for first and senior authorship, guidance on securing early investigator grants and awards, and sponsorships toward national and international speaking engagements at organized neurosurgery events. In their article, the authors astutely pointed out the financial limitations faced by Black applicants in their pursuit of a career in neurosurgery. As stated, the national wealth gap for members of Black households is −$153 850 when compared with members of White households,8 and with the increasing costs of medical training, Black applicants can additionally benefit from subsidies along their journey to neurosurgery. Toward that aim, this year the Departments of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland, USA), The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (Miami, Florida, USA), and Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, Missouri, USA) have partnered to offer a Black Lives Matter Scholarship to sponsor Black trainees toward a summer of neurosurgery research within their departments.9 This 9-week fellowship (June–August, 2022) is available to Black students attending medical school or postgraduate training (Master's degree or PhD) and along with gaining skills in basic science research. Black scholars will be paired with mentors including attending neurosurgeons, neurosurgery resident physicians, scientists, and researchers.9 Applications will be received from February 23, 2022 to April 01, 2022, with award notifications delivered by April 15, 2022.9 This inaugural initiative is a positive shift toward recruiting and retaining Black scholars to the field, and we encourage neurosurgery departments around the United States to follow this lead. Partnership between the ASBN,7 neurosurgery residency programs, and leaders in organized neurosurgery will prove to further this vision and enable recruitment of the best and brightest to our field. Somewhere in a fast-paced nervous system, 2 neurons have slowed at the sight of one another. Together they carry out information, dissolving everything, eager to crack the “code” left by the interaction between sensory receptors and stimuli. Neurons, like medical students aspiring toward a career in neurosurgery, exhibit audacity and diligence as opposed to influence and steadiness. Audacity and diligence are antagonistic: Neurons are daring enough to transmit information to other cells and muscles yet they are careful; they dislike being controlled yet they adhere to the requirements set by the electrochemical process. In science and medicine, there is always something left to discover, some theory needing to be changed—a leaf needing to be overturned to uncover something revolutionary. Integrating Black medical students into the main current of neurosurgical training and education will facilitate the macrosystem of patient care and advocacy together for the common good. We express our gratitude to Garba and Rolle1 for generating sustainable action potential to propel Black students across the synaptic cleft.