To evaluate the effectiveness of an EBM curriculum for neurology residents using AAN’s EBM ONLINE in a flipped classroom model. 

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires residents to be proficient in the use of evidence-based medicine (EBM). To enhance the achievement of this goal, the AAN has provided EBM ONLINE- a series of 8 short modules that teach the core principles of EBM in a practical way. To our knowledge, there is still a dearth of structured EBM curricula that utilize this resource in neurology residency programs. We, therefore, designed and evaluated an EBM curriculum for neurology residents using AAN’s EBM ONLINE resource in a flipped classroom model. 

Participants were PGY2 to PGY4 residents at the Penn State neurology program. A needs assessment survey was completed before the curriculum was deployed. A pretest-posttest method using a neurology-adapted Fresno test was used to assess the curriculum’s efficacy. The EBM curriculum was administered in ten sessions using a flipped classroom model. Residents were requested to study the EBM ONLINE module in sequence before each lecture session. The lecture sessions included practice on generating answerable questions, retrieving and sifting high quality evidence, synthesizing evidence and making decisions based on risks, benefits and patient values. Out of ten participating residents, a total of six completed all the study components. 

The median score on the Fresno test improved from 49 in the pretest to 66 in the posttest with the Wilcoxon signed rank test showing the improvement was statistically significant (P<0.05).

The AAN’s EBM ONLINE administered in a flipped classroom model increased the proficiency of neurology residents in the use of evidence-based medicine.