Abstract
We describe the University of Toronto Adult Neurology Residency Program's early experiences with and response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, including modifications to the provision of neurologic care while upholding neurology education and safety. All academic and many patient-related activities were virtualized. This maintained physical distancing while creating a city-wide videoconference-based teaching curriculum, expanding the learning opportunities to trainees at all academic sites. Furthermore, we propose a novel split-team model to promote resident safety through physical distancing of teams and to establish a capacity to rapidly adapt to redeployment, service needs, and trainee illness. Finally, we developed a unique protected code stroke framework to safeguard staff and trainees during hyperacute stroke assessments in this pandemic. Our shared experiences highlight considerations for contingency planning, maintenance of education, sustainability of team members, and promotion of safe neurologic care. These interventions serve to promote trainee safety, wellness, and resiliency.
Footnotes
Funding information and disclosures are provided at the end of the article. Full disclosure form information provided by the authors is available with the full text of this article at Neurology.org/cp.
↵* These authors contributed equally to this work.
- Received April 16, 2020.
- Accepted June 12, 2020.
- © 2020 American Academy of Neurology
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