2025 American Academy of Neurology Abstract Website

Objective:

Determine if the implementation of regular EEG teaching sessions could increase the level of confidence of adult neurology residents in detecting the “must-know” EEG findings that were depicted in the Nascimento et al 2022 study

Background:

The demand for neurologists will grow faster than the supply, especially for general neurologists. Recent surveys have shown that up to half of adult neurology residents lack confidence to correctly read EEGs without supervision. Potential reasons include insufficient exposure to EEGs and non-specific ACGME milestones.

Design/Methods:

In this interventional pre-post design study, we implemented monthly EEG sessions for UTSW adult neurology residents and measured the level of confidence they have interpreting "must know" EEG findings that were described in a study Nascimento et al 2022 via pre and post intervention surveys through RedCap assessing multiple variables with the utilization of a Likert scale (1-5).

Results:

Around 53% of the residents answered both surveys, the majority of which were PGY-2s. The level of comfort interpreting must know EEG findings increased in a statistically significant manner (p<0.0001) 9 months after implementation of EEG rounds. Additional analysis showed that there was no correlation between the number of EEG rounds attended and average change in the level of comfort, and no correlation between number of additional EMU/EEG rotations and average change in the level of comfort.

Conclusions:

Several factors might play a role in EEG learning including the amount of EMU/EEG rotations, the number of EEGs read with or without supervision, and the level of attention during EEG rounds. it is unclear in this study what additional factors might have contributed to the increased level of comfort that the residents showed after the intervention. Further studies are needed to determine the best way to improve EEG education during residency training.