Abstract: Objective To explore the willingness of eight-year program clinical medical students to practice neurosurgery and possible influencing factors. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among eight-year program clinical medical students from first to eighth year in Peking University Health Science Center from June 2022 to August 2022. Using cluster convenience method, the medical students who completed this survey were selected as subjects. The general information, past experience of neurosurgery, cognition of neurosurgery and willingness to engage in neurosurgery in the future were collected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to screen out the factors that may affect the willingness to practice. Results A total of 150 students completed the questionnaire survey, of which 65 (43.3%) chose to engage in neurosurgery in the future. Interest in neuroscience (OR=7.00,95%CI: 2.57~19.11, P<0.001), elective courses of neuroscience (OR=3.68, 95%CI: 1.49~9.08, P=0.005) and research experience (OR=5.25, 95% CI: 1.23~22.48, P=0.025) were positive factors for eight-year program clinical medical students to engage in neurosurgery. On the contrary, neurosurgery internship experience (OR=0.31, 95%CI: 0.13~0.75, P=0.009) and occupational stress (OR=0.18, 95%CI: 0.04~0.94, P=0.042) were negative factors. Conclusions Interest, early contact with courses and research projects of neurosurgery, internship experience, and occupational pressure are the factors influencing medical students to choose neurosurgery. Therefore, it is recommended to cultivate the interest in neurosurgery, establish courses and research projects for early exposure to neurosurgery, improve the quality and satisfaction of internships, which will enhance the willingness of medical students to engage in neurosurgery.

Key words: Neurosurgery, Eight-year program, Clinical medical students, Willingness to practice in neurosurgery