PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lemus, Hernan Nicolas
AU  - Dworetzky, Barbara A.
AU  - Bubrick, Ellen J.
AU  - Cosgrove, Garth Rees
AU  - Tobochnik, Steven
TI  - Education Research: Evaluation of Epilepsy Surgery Education in Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship Programs
AID  - 10.1212/NE9.0000000000200018
DP  - 2022 Dec 01
TA  - Neurology: Education
PG  - e200018
VI  - 1
IP  - 2
4099  - http://ne.neurology.org/content/1/2/e200018.short
4100  - http://ne.neurology.org/content/1/2/e200018.full
SO  - Neurol Edu2022 Dec 01; 1
AB  - Background and Objectives To assess the scope of surgical epilepsy exposure and training among fellows in Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology (CNP) fellowship programs in the United States. Characteristics associated with increased fellow involvement in epilepsy surgery were evaluated.Methods A 10-question multiple-choice survey was designed to characterize individual fellowship programs, epilepsy surgery programs, trainee involvement, and assessment of trainee performance. The survey was distributed to program directors of adult Epilepsy and CNP-EEG track fellowships between November 2021 and April 2022. Epilepsy surgery procedures included resective approaches, neurostimulation modalities, and palliative interventions approved for drug-resistant epilepsy. Associations between categorical variables were evaluated using the Fisher exact test.Results There were 37 responses from a total of 72 survey recipients (51% response rate). The majority (68%) of surgical programs performed >30 surgical procedures per year. The range of procedures was overall similar across programs. At most programs, fellows were personally involved in 1–10 (49%) or 11–30 (46%) surgical procedures per year. Institutions with >50 surgical cases/year were more likely to expose fellows to >10 cases/y compared with institutions with volumes ≤50 per year (77% vs 33%, p = 0.017). Fellows had the greatest involvement in presurgical planning with more variable involvement in perioperative and postoperative activities. Competency in surgical management was primarily investigated through faculty assessments (97%), whereas oral (46%) and written (30%) assessments were less frequently used.Discussion High-volume epilepsy surgery centers provide trainees with increased exposure despite also having more fellowship positions. There is variability in surgical epilepsy exposure, trainee involvement, and performance evaluation metrics between institutions. We identify specific areas that programs may focus on to improve fellow competency in the surgical management of epilepsy.ABPN=American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology; ACGME=Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; CNP=clinical neurophysiology; DRE=drug-resistant epilepsy; NAEC=National Association of Epilepsy Centers