Fabio Nascimento, MD

"How do we make this change? Well, groups have to come together and gain an understanding that there need to be newer ways of teaching, and that we need to take advantage of the technology. There are online courses, assessments, and virtual videos that can all be used.”

Recently published findings from Fabio Nascimento, MD and Jay Gavvala, MD, MSCI, identified inconsistencies across electroencephalogram (EEG) 

. Nascimento, an EEG/epilepsy clinical fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, claims the issues within the education system are well known by residents themselves. In total, the average number of EEGs read during a typical EEG rotation varied from more than 40, in about one-third of programs, to 0–10, in about 14% of programs.

In addition to main findings, the 2 also provided possible solutions to the most commonly reported barriers to EEG education. Their suggestions for optimizing teaching and learning included increase in supervision, reading time with faculty, and an up-tick in the responsibility and accountability to read EEGs during rotation, among others.

To better understand how these inconsistencies can be resolved, we turned to Nascimento for his insight. In an interview with 

, he provided his thoughts on where the change comes from, and why culture needs to be the highest priority to ensure better results.

Nascimento FA, Gavvala JR. Education research: neurology resident EEG education: a survey of US neurology residency program directors. Neurology. Published online December 11, 2020. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000011354.

Videos

The clinical fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital gives his call to action on how what needs to change to improve EEG education among residency programs.

Institutionalizing Change for EEG Education in Residency Programs: Fabio Nascimento, MD

In an effort to understand more about the 

teaching strategies for electroencephalogram

 (EEG) reading during residency, Fabio Nascimento, MD, and Jay Gavvala, PhD, surveyed 47 program directors (PDs) of adult neurology residency programs in the US. The main findings included a lack of consistency in teaching, with the average number of EEG reads varying from more than 40 in about one-third of programs, to 0–10 in about 14% of programs.

The entire dataset identifies inconsistencies across the board in EEG residency programs, but what stuck out to Nascimento was the variation and lack of objective measures to assess EEG milestones. In total, 64% of programs utilized objective measures, and included EEG tests/quizzes, oral examinations, Residency In-service Training Examination (RITE), Self-Assessment Examination (SAE), American Epilepsy Society (AES) examination, direct assessment from faculty, evaluation of EEGs logged by residents, and number of EEGs read during the rotation.

, Nascimento faces the question as to whether there should be more standardized levels of EEG education and whether it should impact graduation status. He also touches on his own personal experience in his residency program and how these inconsistencies were brought to his attention.

Nascimento FA, Gavvala JR. Education research: neurology resident EEG education: a survey of US neurology residency program directors. 

. Published online December 11, 2020. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000011354.

The clinical fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital discussed the idea of standardizing the number of EEG reads residents should be required to do before their training is complete.

Utilizing Objective Measures to Assess EEG Milestones: Fabio Nascimento, MD

"The first point is that more than 80% of program directors that completed the survey reported and believe that their graduating residents do meet level 4 milestone by graduation.”

In efforts to better understand the degrees of electroencephalogram (EEG) education within neurology residency programs, Fabio Nascimento, MD, and Jay Gavvala, MD, MSCI, surveyed 47 program directors (PDs), and found a 

lack of consistency in teaching and evaluating residents

 on EEGs. They also observed a number of inconsistencies about requirements for successful completion of EEG rotation, which ranged from completion of rotation to oral examination and interpretation of 30 EEGs.

Nascimento, an EEG/epilepsy clinical fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, claims it is a widespread known fact among centers and residents that adult neurology residents do not receive optimal EEG education throughout their training. In their published research, Nascimento and Gavvala mention ways to combat these inconsistencies and optimize teaching and learning.

In this interview, Nascimento gives his reasoning for what brought about the study, and details some of the more puzzling results that were observed regarding the inconsistencies across residency programs.

The clinical fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital provided background on his efforts to raise awareness of inconsistencies with EEG education in neurology residency programs.

Fabio Nascimento, MD

Articles

Institutionalizing Change for EEG Education in Residency Programs: Fabio Nascimento, MD

Utilizing Objective Measures to Assess EEG Milestones: Fabio Nascimento, MD

Analytical Approach to Changing EEG Education: Fabio Nascimento, MD