Jenifer Moceri1, Azima Shaji1, Adriana Mendez1, Naaima Mufti1, Cathrine Craven1, Rebecca Mayeda2, Brian Hanrahan1
1Neurology, St. Luke's University Health Network, 2Temple/St. Luke's School of Medicine
Objective:
To identify areas of perceived weakness by medical students during their Neurology rotation.
Background:
Neurology rotations can range between 2-4 weeks at academic institutions, leading educators to cover a large swath of content over a relatively short amount of time. Efficient education optimizes the time spent with each learner. To better facilitate the educational needs of students at our institution, we sought to identify areas that could be strengthened.
Design/Methods:
An anonymous survey was completed by students after the completion of their Neurology rotation. In the survey a Likert scale was used to assess their knowledge base at the end of the rotation. Areas rated included the following: understanding basic neuroanatomy, performing a focused and reliable neurological exam, generating a neurological differential diagnosis, recognizing neurological emergencies, localizing lesions along the neuroaxis, interpreting neuroimaging, managing and treating common neurological conditions, understanding common neuropharmacology, recognizing and managing acute stroke syndromes, identifying appropriate indications for neurological consultation, and knowledge of landmark medical literature.
Results:
A total of 23 participants completed the survey. Of the 23, 19 were MS3 and 4 were MS4 (sub-I) students. When looking at combined “good” and “excellent” Likert scale ratings, students are most prepared with performing a neurological exam (23/23), recognizing and managing acute stroke syndromes (21/23), and recognizing neurological emergencies (19/23). Areas with the most combined “fair” and “poor” ratings included knowledge of landmark medical literature (13/23) and interpreting neuroimaging (12/23).
Conclusions:
With the above data, our institution will be able to place more attention on neuroimaging and landmark study review during future Neurology rotations. As a QI project, Neurology residents are creating a student handbook that will address the above-mentioned subject areas. This pre-intervention survey data will help us better appreciate the educational value this handbook will provide for trainees.