The EANS is involved in all aspects of neurosurgical training both at pre-board certification level and at special interest training level.

At general training level the EANS' main activity is the European Neurosurgical Training Course.

The Post Graduate Education Committe is responsible for the organisation of ongoing neurosurgical training on behalf of the EANS. The inaugural EANS courses in Spine Surgery, held in Opatija, Croatia in 2007 and 2008 were extremely successful and so the EANS CME Spine course has become an annual event. The Young Neurosurgoens Meeting, an event designed specifically for young neurosurgeons who have recently completed the European Training Courses was established in 2011. A course in Radiosurgery and further educational events and are also planned.

Through its membership of UEMS the EANS has important links to other specialties such as radiology.

These consist of four annual courses of five days each, covering the key topics of Vascular Neurosurgery, Tumour, Head Injury/Functional and Spine/Peripheral Nerves. The course cycle therefore takes four years to complete.

Founded in the 1970s by Professors Brihaye, Pia and Vigoroux, the courses are aimed at serving the needs of neurosurgical trainees in the latter half of their training in neurosurgery.

The excellence of the courses and their scientific and social value is acknowledged throughout the neurosurgical community, and the current committee would like to acknowledge the tremendous part played by the founders, past chairmen of the Training Committee and previous Executive Administrator, Stephanie Garfield-Birkbeck, in bringing this about.

New candidates should be in their third or fourth year of specialist training. There are two separate course cycles, each of which can accommodate 230 participants. Once accepted for one course cycle, it is not possible to switch to the other.

Applicants who are successful are automatically admitted for the full four years and must attend four consecutive courses within their cycle. Any exceptions to this are at the discretion of the chairman of the Training Committee and Executive Director of the EANS. There are strict arrangements for maternity and paternity leave. Applicants must have a high-level of English, both written and spoken and all trainees must attend the course unaccompanied.

Since 2010 places on the courses have been allocated only once annually.

The European Exam is compulsory for all fourth-year trainees, unless they have already passed it and is taken at the training course site the day before the start of the fourth training course. Further details can be obtained from the EANS Secretariat .