Short-term effectiveness of a condensed series of standard EEG lectures for adult neurology residents.

To investigate (i) the short-term effectiveness of a series of traditional didactic EEG lectures for an adult neurology resident cohort and (ii) whether the educational benefit of such lectures correlates with residents' prior formal EEG exposure. We evaluated the short-term effectiveness of traditional lectures by testing residents' EEG knowledge before and after a series of four EEG lectures given by epilepsy attending physicians. The EEG test consisted of both normal (27) and abnormal (10) EEG questions. Only residents who performed the test before (pre-test) and after (post-test) and attended at least two lectures were included. Residents were divided based on whether they had at least one EEG rotation during or prior to the study (Group A) or not (Group B). Twelve residents met the inclusion criteria: two PGY1 (one-year postgraduate), four PGY2, one PGY3, and five PGY4 residents. One of these residents did not complete the abnormal EEG section of the tests. The time interval between both tests ranged from 40 to 75 days. The overall score (mean±SEM) for the normal (n=12) EEG section was 47±6.1% (pre-test) and 58±5.5% (post-test) (p=0.0168). The overall score for the abnormal (n=11) EEG section was 48±7.2% (pre-test) and 62±8.6% (post-test) (p=0.0396). Group A (n=6) pre- and post-test scores were 53±6.7% and 72±4.6%, respectively (p=0.0008). Group B (n=5) pre- and post-test scores were 42±11.4% and 48±11.7%, respectively (p=0.3777). A condensed series of four EEG lectures given by epilepsy attending physicians generated a statistically significant increase in EEG knowledge among adult neurology residents who already had some degree of formal in-residency EEG exposure. Standard EEG lectures may be an invaluable tool in resident EEG education. It would be advisable to ensure that residents undergo hands-on EEG exposure through formal rotations either prior to or during standard lectures in order to generate maximal educational benefits via this teaching avenue.