To evaluate the response from participants of the AAN Anti-Racism Education Pilot Program in our neurology department.

We implemented pre-program and post-program surveys addressing participants’ experiences. Full completion rates were 85% and 73% respectively.  Descriptive statistics were used in addition to qualitative evaluations to open questions.  

A total of 26 and 22 participants consented to take the pre- and post-program survey, respectively. In the pre-survey, 46.2% identified as male and 53.8% as female vs 54.5% males and 45.5% females in the post-survey.  Most responders were faculty in both the pre- and post-surveys (81.8% % vs 75% ); trainees represented 18.2% vs 25%.

Prior to the workshops, respondents rated their knowledge of anti-racism principles as poor (4.5%), average (36.4%), good to excellent (59.1%).  Post-workshop, knowledge was rated as fair (12.5%) vs good to excellent (87.5%). When questioned about increasing DEI departmental activities, 86.4% agreed to strongly agreed, 9.1% were undecided, 4.5% strongly disagreed. Following the course, 87.5% agreed to strongly agreed with need for more DEI activities; 12.5% remained neutral and none disagreed.  After completion, 12.5% considered it will make no impact to slight impact on their clinical decision making while 18.8% considered it moderately impactful, and 68.8% impactful to very impactful. Our survey also included open comments. Some concerns identified included the duration of the modules, the information density/wordiness, and the need for protected time.

The results from our single center experience indicate that the AAN Anti-Racism Education Pilot Program is an overall valuable curricular tool with a potential impact on clinical decision making. Low participation may be mitigated by future streamlined iterations and protected time to achieve these important objectives.