2026 American Academy of Neurology Abstract Website

Objective:

To improve post-graduate year 1 (PGY-1) residents’ foundational neurology knowledge through a novel didactic curriculum.

Background:

Categorical neurology programs provide early exposure to neurology services and educational conferences. Yet, there remains a gap in structured, didactic curriculum focused on foundational neurology concepts for PGY1s to establish a mental framework to build off for future knowledge.

Design/Methods:

A needs assessment for a dedicated PGY-1 neurology curriculum was conducted by adding targeted questions to an annual didactic curriculum survey distributed to all residents and teaching faculty. One question specifically solicited didactic session topic ideas. A working group of self-selected residents and program leadership finalized curriculum topics and created corresponding learning objectives as well as assessments. The curriculum consisted of five weekly, two-hour sessions with electronically delivered pre- and post-session quizzes. Session topics included brain anatomy and imaging, neurological examination, acute stroke and seizure management, peripheral nervous system anatomy, Guillain-Barré management, dizziness, headache, and demyelinating disease. Instructors were encouraged to utilize adult-learning principles. An end-of-curriculum electronic feedback survey assessed learner satisfaction and perceptions of interactivity and relevance. Statistical analyses included descriptive measures and unpaired t-testing.

Results:

In the needs assessment, 68% of faculty (n=28/41) and residents (n=21/31) wanted development of PGY-1 didactic series.

Pooling the five sessions data for overall knowledge attainment, average quiz scores were 68% (n=24) pre-session and non-significantly improved to 78% (n=10) post-session (p=0.17).

The overall satisfaction score was 4.6/5, with 58% (n=7/12) residents responding; 71% (n=5/7) of residents were very satisfied with topic relevance. Overall, 92.9% of residents reported that the series maintained their interest (77.2% rating “Extremely well”, 15.7% “Well”). Similarly, 95.7% indicated lecturers encouraged attendee participation (81.4% “Extremely well” and 15.7% “Well”).

Conclusions:

The development and implementation of a PGY-1 foundational neurology didactic curriculum showed trends towards improvement in knowledge and high learner satisfaction and engagement.