Leading the Future: A Neurology Webinar Series for Chief Resident Development
Jorge Patino Murillas1, Brian Emmert2, Mattia Rosso3, Arielle Kurzweil4, Nada Abou Fayssal4, Matthew Roberts5, Galina Gheihman6, Shirin Sadeghpour7, Isha Snehal8, Sunanjay Bajaj9, Elina Zakin4
1University of Cincinnati, 2Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 3Yale University, 4NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 5Prisma Health, 6Brigham & Women's Hospital, 7Rush University, 8Mayo Clinic, 9UTHealth Houston
Objective:
To describe the design and implementation of a webinar series to improve leadership skills for neurology chief residents.
Background:
Neurology chief residents participate in academic and administrative roles during their last year of training. However, most do not receive formal education on leadership, cultural competency, and communication skills.1 The AAN Chief Resident Webinar Series (CRWS) is an online training program for chief residents and trainees interested in enhancing their leadership skills. It consists of synchronous/asynchronous webinars and live interactive discussions with common challenging scenarios. The program is free for all trainee members of the AAN.
Design/Methods:
The CRWS was launched in 2025 as a pilot. It included four quarterly lectures about leadership, communication, cultural competency, and advocacy, and four evening interactive discussions moderated by faculty from various neurology residency programs in which former chief residents engaged as standardized participants, and attendees were given case instructions at the start of each case. Trainees rated their overall satisfaction with the session, with the faculty facilitators/instructors, and the degree of utility for each session.
Results:
A total of 72 and 23 participants attended the lectures and interactive discussions, respectively. Survey responders (n=13) rated the sessions as excellent (69.2%) or good (23%). Faculty were primarily rated as excellent (61.5%) and good (30.7%). Participants’ feedback included lengthening the interactive discussions and inviting speakers from different cultural backgrounds and neurology subspecialties.
Conclusions:
The AAN CRWS addresses the need to train residents interested in leadership to improve their comfort level in academic or administrative roles. Subsequent iterations of the program will focus on mentoring and following up with the cohort of participants to promote success in their new responsibilities. Additionally, the program will increase its reach through enhanced outreach strategies. Graduates from the program will be invited to participate as standardized actors or faculty during future sessions.
Disclaimer: Abstracts were not reviewed by Neurology® and do not reflect the views of Neurology® editors or staff.