The Push: A Pregnancy Neurology Curriculum

My name is Dr. Julie Roth and I’m a neurologist at Rhode Island Hospital. Although I frequently encounter pregnant patients with migraine, epilepsy and other neurological problems, I’ve found that these topics are not adequately covered in most neurology or obstetrics and gynecology trainings. What’s worse, neurology and obstetrics/gynecology house officers learn little about one another's fields, largely due to the high demands of their own disciplines during residency and fellowship training.

To bridge the gap between neurology and obstetrics/gynecology physicians in training, I developed a series of case-based podcasts illustrating neurologic issues in pregnancy. When I compared these podcasts to traditional written case reports, I found that residents and fellows experienced the same mastery of the material in the short and long term, but were more satisfied with the experience of listening to the podcasts.

I believe an audio only, entertaining approach can be useful for any medical discipline where physicians and physicians in training need to learn about an “uncomfortable” area or fill a knowledge gap. But learning styles can differ, and some people prefer to read. That is why I included a podcast version and a written version of each case. The podcasts are NOT just written cases read aloud - they use a storytelling format, something we don't usually use in medical education. Feel free to leave comments or contact me if you want to learn more about these topics, if you have ideas for new topics I should cover, or if you want to learn how to make these podcasts yourself!* 

Enjoy!

*If you DO want to make these podcasts yourself, feel free to check out our How To Guide! Available here.