Clinical neuroscience attachments: a student’s view of ‘neurophobia’

BACKGROUND: neurophobia has been described as a fear of clinical neuroscience, and is known to affect both medical students and junior doctors alike. There is some evidence that it may affect the practice of GPs, who may not feel confident enough to give advice to neurological patients. CONTEXT: I am a fourth year undergraduate at The University of Manchester, and have undertaken two four-week placements in neurology at the Greater Manchester Neuroscience Centre in Salford. The first was a student-selected component in movement disorders, and the second was part of the standard undergraduate curriculum at the University. INNOVATION: in this piece I relate my experience of clinical neuroscience training to the theory surrounding neurophobia. I aim to demonstrate how students and teachers can reduce the effect of the phenomenon through the use of good educational strategies. My experience is divided into individual and group learning opportunities. Five points for teachers of clinical neuroscience are presented as possible ideas to help students venturing into clinical neurology for the first time. IMPLICATIONS: the experience I had during my eight weeks in neurology suggests that neurophobia can be reduced. It is important that clinical teachers have an awareness of the implications of neurophobia in their students so they can both anticipate and counteract its effects.