The course in Neurosurgery is obligatory course during the fifth year of the medical studies, consisting of 8 hours of lectures, 4 hours of seminars and 8 hours of clinical practice, which is total of 20 hours (1 ECTS). It is performed in the wards of Clinic of Neurosurgery, Clincial Hospital Center Rijeka, in it’s operation theaters, and in the Lecture hall of Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka (Sušak). The aim of the course for the students is to adopt basic knowledge and skills in the neurosurgery and neurotraumatology. After getting information about specifical neurosurgical approach to neurolgical diseases and neurotraumatological cases, the student will learn about advisable operative ways of their treatment.

The contents are a part of neurological contents that are already known to the students from the fourth year and represent its logical continuation offering modern methods of operative treatment. The importance of the decompressive and pathologic substrate ablation is stressed: be it a tumour, haematoma o malformmation. Also, operations of the CSL derivation are shown, as well as the decompression of the spinal channel. A short description of the surgery of the inflammatory and purulent processes, and modern microsurgical methods, ventriculoscopy, endoscopy and minimally invasive procedures will be given. In neurotraumatology the explanation of the common injuries to the neurocranium and spine, as well as to the brain and spinal cord and peripheral nerves will be given. The importance of the team approach in their modern complex treatment is explained (the teams consisting of the urgnet medicine physician, intensive care unit – anesthesiologists and neurosurgeons and neurorehabilitationists is stressed. Upon completing the course studnet will be able to aproach these patients with comprehension, be able to distinguish their ilness, analyse symptoms and recommend best diagnostic and treatment options. The student will be able to do the follow up of such patient and recognize qualitative and quantitative disturbances of the conciousness, focal neurological deficits (such as monoparesis vs hemiparesis, aphasia, gait and coordination disturbances etc.), recognize the signs of elevated ICP, neurlogical signs in sponal cord injuries (para- and tetraplegia).