TEACHING NEUROLOGY RESIDENTS IN THE OUTPATIENT SETTING

Objective: To determine how residency programs are responding to the s hift of neurological practice into the outpatient setting. Design: A n ine-item questionnaire was sent to the directors of all US neurology r esidency programs. Each item had two parts, the first describing the c urrent program, and the second describing an ''ideal'' program designe d to optimize resident education. The same questionnaire was also sent to all house officers and faculty associated with a single residency program to assess variability in perceptions. Setting: United States n eurology residency programs (mail survey). Participants: Directors of neurology residency programs and all house officers and faculty member s at a single residency program. Results: Eighty-one (70%) of the 116 questionnaires distributed were returned. There were four areas of gen eral consensus among the program directors: (1) more time should be de voted to outpatient care during residency training; (2) more continuit y at the resident level should be provided for patients seen in subspe cialty clinics, (3) faculty should provide more supervision of residen ts when they see follow-up patients; and (4) conferences specifically directed at outpatient management issues should be developed. Conclusi ons: Neurology residency directors agree that current approaches to te aching in the outpatient setting fall short of an educationally ideal system. Four areas of perceived deficiency have been identified. Creat ive solutions will be necessary to correct these perceived deficiencie s.