Curriculum Innovations: A Social Media-Based Educational Curriculum Improves Knowledge for Trainees in Neurocritical Care: Results of a Stratified Randomized Study.

Abstract

The Neurocritical Care (NCC) Society Resident and Fellow Task Force's NEURON study concluded that learners had significant concerns regarding the need for educational improvement in NCC. To address these shortcomings, we identified the lack of an educational curriculum for trainees in NCC and developed a Twitter-based educational curriculum for trainees to improve knowledge in NCC. The objectives of this study were to describe the pathophysiology, delineate a systematic diagnostic approach, and apply evidence-based strategies in the management of diseases in NCC. Ten trainees developed a Tweetorial (educational content available on Twitter)-based curriculum, with individual review by at least 2 NCC faculty. Learners were recruited through Twitter and randomized to 1 of 2 groups in a wait-list control prospective study. Group 1 completed the curriculum in the first 6 months of the 2021-2022 academic year, and group 2 completed the curriculum in the second half. Tweetorials were posted weekly on a private Twitter account only available to the active learner group. Learners were assessed by a multiple-choice format test (written by the trainees and reviewed by faculty) at 3 time points: before the first Tweetorial was released (preeducational curriculum assessment), after group 1 completed all tutorials and before group 2 started the curriculum (assessment 1), and after both groups finished (assessment 2). The primary outcome was the mean score on the second and third assessments. One hundred forty-six learners were assigned to group 1 or 2 using stratified block randomization including 99 (68%) Neurology residents, 81 (55%) US-based. Each group was composed of 73 participants. A total of 20 Tweetorials were published on a private Twitter account (@NeurocriticalE). Completed assessments were obtained from 100, 32, and 18 learners for the pre-educational curriculum assessment, assessment 1, and assessment 2, respectively. Group 1 and group 2 performed similarly in the pre-educational curriculum assessment. A potential for knowledge improvement was observed in group 1 at assessments 1 and 2 when compared with the learner group 2. Group 1 had more impressions, engagements, likes, URL clicks, and media views. Although there was some learner attrition, our study demonstrates that social media can effectively deliver educational content and engage a diverse group of trainees around the globe.