Teaching the next generation of neurologists

Educators of the next generation of neurologists will face several challenges, including changes in academic medical centers and hospitals, changes in the scope and practice of neurology itself, and changes in trainees, related to both access to information technology and professional goals. This article, which originated as a lecture given at the A.B. Baker Education Symposium at the 60th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in April 2008, arose out of an attempt to enumerate these challenges and to suggest ways to address them. First, approaches to overcoming challenges will likely require reinvigorating the commitment to teaching in fundamental and concrete ways, including, for example, establishing communities of educators and taking seriously the teaching role provided by clinicians. Second, it is expected that changes in the scope of educational content will be needed. Learning the role of the neurologist in a broader societal context will become an increasingly important part of training. It should be emphasized, as well, that trainees should play an important role in the redesign of neurology training and practice; in fact, their participation in this hidden curriculum constitutes an important part of their education. Third, new information technologies, such as Google, Wikipedias, and podcasting, will likely play an increasingly important role in neurology education. Finally, generational differences in familiarity with these new technologies, and differences in professional and personal goals, may lead to different career opportunities and plans for future neurologists than have been considered the norm in the past.