Abstract
Introduction and Problem Statement Neuroimmunology is a rapidly evolving subspecialty. At this time, fellowship training is not standardized. Discrepancies exist in fellowship programs across the United States, including in faculty expertise in rarer neuroimmunologic conditions. Many graduating fellows feel uncomfortable managing the full spectrum of diseases within neuroimmunology.
Objectives To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of a series of live, virtual, interinstitutional seminars educating neuroimmunology fellows on topics that may be infrequently encountered by trainees.
Methods and Curriculum Description A steering committee of 6 neuroimmunology and multiple sclerosis fellowship program directors selected 18 topics felt to be high yield but representing unique areas of expertise. A live, interactive seminar series was organized. Recognized experts on each topic led seminars using a teleconferencing platform over the 2020–2021 academic year. Recordings were subsequently made available for asynchronous learning. Trainees were surveyed before and after the seminar series and comfort levels with each topic were recorded.
Results and Assessment Data An average of 41 trainees participated in each live seminar and an additional average of 17 trainees viewed each seminar on demand. Trainee comfort levels with each topic increased after the seminar series was completed. An average of 72% of trainees self-identified as at least “comfortable” with each topic after the series compared with 26% beforehand (p < 0.0001).
Discussion and Lessons Learned A year-long series of live, interactive, interinstitutional seminars focusing on unique topics within a single subspecialty represents an effective way to increase trainee comfort levels with such topics.
Glossary
- ACTRIMS=
- Americas Committee on Treatment and Research in MS;
- COVID-19=
- coronavirus disease 2019;
- MS=
- multiple sclerosis;
- NI=
- neuroimmunology
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org/NE for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
- Received May 6, 2022.
- Accepted in final form August 3, 2022.
- Copyright © 2022 American Academy of Neurology. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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