title: Stroke doctors: Who are we? A World Stroke Organization survey.
abstract: Background Specialist training provides skilled workforce for service delivery. Stroke medicine has evolved rapidly in the past years. No prior information exists on background or training of stroke doctors globally. Aims To describe the specialties that represent stroke doctors, their training requirements, and the scientific organizations ensuring continuous medical education. Methods The World Stroke Organization conducted an expert survey between June and November 2014 using e-mailed questionnaires. All Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries with >1 million population and other countries with >50 million population were included ( n = 49, total 5.6 billion inhabitants, 85% of global strokes). Two stroke experts from each selected country were surveyed, discrepancies resolved, and further information on identified stroke-specific curricula sought. Results We received responses from 48 (98%) countries. Of ischemic stroke patients, 64% were reportedly treated by neurologists, ranging from 5% in Ireland to 95% in the Netherlands. Per thousand annual strokes there were average six neurologists, ranging from 0.3 in Ethiopia to 33 in Israel. Of intracerebral hemorrhage patients, 29% were reportedly treated by neurosurgeons, ranging from 5% in Sweden to 79% in Japan, with three neurosurgeons per thousand strokes, ranging from 0.1 in Ethiopia to 24 in South Korea. Most countries had a stroke society (86%) while only 10 (21%) had a degree or subspecialty for stroke medicine. Conclusions Stroke doctor numbers, background specialties, and opportunities to specialize in stroke vary across the globe. Most countries have a scientific society to pursue advancement of stroke medicine, but few have stroke curricula.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.|2 The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia.|3 Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Atte
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meretoja
authors.affiliation: 4 Stroke Unit and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Ospedale Santa Maria della Misericordia, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Acciarresi
authors.affiliation: 5 Neurosciences and Ageing Research Unit, Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Rufus O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Akinyemi
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: 6 Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Dar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dowlatshahi
authors.affiliation: 7 School of Health Sciences and Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Coralie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: English
authors.affiliation: 8 Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.|9 Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Henninger
authors.affiliation: 10 Department of Medicine (Neurology), Hôpital Notre-Dame, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poppe
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Putaala
authors.affiliation: 11 Department of Medicine, Changi General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.|12 Memory Ageing and Cognition Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saini
authors.affiliation: 13 Department of Cerebrovascular Medicine, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Osaka, Japan.|14 Neurological and Mental Health Division, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Shoichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: 15 Department of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: 16 Center of Clinical Neurosciences, Danube University of Krems, Krems, Austria.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brainin
authors.affiliation: 17 Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Neurology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden and Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Norrving
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000628:therapy; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000628:therapy; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D006801:Humans; D007390:International Agencies; D009462:Neurology; D009493:Neurosurgery; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013038:Specialization; D020521:Stroke / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: Stroke; college; curriculum; education; organization; specialist; training; workforce