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A Different Kind of Brain Mapping: Curriculum Mapping in Neurology Residency Education
Saatvika Nair1, Hayoung E Ahn2, Myung Shin Sim3
1University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Objective:
We developed a curriculum map of the neurology residency program's academic half-day (AHD) at our institution from 2018 to 2024 to assess topic coverage and identify gaps relative to board certification content.
Methods:
We cataloged 280 unique AHD lectures over 6 years, recording attributes including title, date, duration, speaker, and subspecialty. These were compared against the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) certification blueprint using chi-square analysis.
Results:
The 280 lectures totaled 358.5 h. We found significant differences across multiple subspecialties. Content categorized as "Questions not associated with a specific neurologic disorder" (4.93%) was overrepresented (P < .05), while topics on metabolic disorders (0.26%), psychiatric disorders (0%), and autonomic nervous system disorders (0%) were underrepresented (P < .05).
Conclusions:
Curriculum mapping revealed both strengths and gaps in the current didactic content, underscoring the need for more comprehensive and aligned curricular material. This process offers a data-driven framework for iterative curricular improvement and may serve as a replicable model for other neurology residency programs. Future efforts will focus on building a 2-year curriculum that aligns more closely with ABPN content specifications while considering institutional strengths and resources.
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