A History of Supporting Neurologists with Lifelong Learning Opportunities

When we look back on AAN’s history of providing continuing education to its members, we return to the reason for the founding of the Academy: Dr. Joseph Resch’s complaint to Dr. A.B. Baker that there was no organization he could belong to that would help him keep up his post-residency education on the latest developments in the field when he entered practice.

Since then, the AAN has been dedicated to educating neurologists and providing quality course curriculum to Annual Meeting and regional conference attendees, as well as through publications and online learning activities. The Academy’s aim has been, and still is, to deliver a continuing body of knowledge that sustains practicing neurologists, academicians, and residents alike—as well as business administrators and advanced practice providers—throughout their careers.

In 1994, Robert C. Griggs, MD, FAAN, was chair of the Education Committee and worked to expand the Annual Meeting Education Program to a full five days and the variety of courses and formats continued to increase. Practice management courses were added in 2002, later joined by coding lunches, reflecting trends in medical economics and increased emphasis on running the business of caring for patients. In 2004, under Ralph F. Józefowicz, MD, FAAN, the Education Committee and its Annual Meeting Subcommittee restructured the program to be more topic-focused.

to the classes in person. Really need to focus on a specific area? Then try our virtual delivery. We also have extensive offerings for our medical students, residents, fellows, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, business administrators, and the entire neurology clinical care team.”

Regional Conferences Offer Weekend Convenience

Annual Meetings Provide Needed Education Opportunities

However, the first “special course” had to wait until the 1951 Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach. Baker’s laboratory at the University of Minnesota, under the direction of Fae Y. Tichy, MD, FAAN, prepared slides representative of various conditions, principally from tissues and blocks in its collection. Each of the 40 registrants for the first Academy special course, on neuropathology, received a set of slides prior to the meeting. Its success led to immediate expansion into an annual Special Course Program, and Baker—an esteemed educator and chair of neurology at the University of Minnesota—assumed the role of director and made all course selections for the next decade.

Maynard M. Cohen, MD, FAAN, himself a Baker protégé from the U of M and later president of the AAN, became director in 1961, and during his term the number of offerings, including neuropathology, neurophysiology, and neuroanatomy, more than doubled. By this time, syllabi and audio tapes were prepared for many courses at the Annual Meeting. In 1971, the “Meet the Professor” sessions were added, which facilitated discussions between course participants and distinguished senior neurologists.

A major change came in 1979, when President Dewey Ziegler, MD, FAAN, named Theodore Munsat, MD, FAAN, to lead the Special Course Committee. Munsat professionalized, enlarged, and diversified the program. By 1981, Annual Meeting programming had increased from 18 to 62 programs, including full- and half-day courses as well as dinner and breakfast seminars. Skills workshops were introduced at the 1987 Annual Meeting, which recreated a clinical setting and presented techniques critical to the practice of neurology. Governance of education activities and committee responsibilities was restructured over the years to enhance efficiencies and be more responsive to the needs of members. When Stanley Fahn, MD, FAAN, chaired the Education Committee in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he turned his own skill as a clinical teacher and his ability to capture patients’ movement disorders on videotape into the first prototype, casebased informal dinner seminar. Working with C. David Marsden, MD, Fahn quickly moved from the didactic to an interactive format where seminar participants brought their own problem cases for analysis by faculty and audience.

Recognizing the crucial role of outstanding educators in neurology, the AAN in 1990 established its first non-scientific award: The A.B. Baker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Neurologic Education, sponsored by the A.B. Baker Section on Neurologic Education. It pays tribute to Baker’s vision and reputation as educator and mentor to up-and-coming practitioners and researchers.

Cynthia L. Comella, MD, FAAN, the first woman to chair the Education Committee, introduced programing for advanced practice providers, created Annual Meeting tracks, and expanded our eLearning offerings. She was succeeded by A. Gordon Smith, MD, FAAN, who helped lead the revitalization of the Annual Meeting in Vancouver in 2016, where emphasis was placed on offering a variety of teaching methods, from traditional didactic to more interactive and informal, moving courses beyond the four walls and out into hallways and open spaces of the convention centers. Instead of charging per course, attendees paid a flat fee for nearly every available learning opportunity. This has given attendees the freedom to be more flexible on-site and has been very popular.

Flexibility in education programming expanded even further post-COVID, as the Annual Meeting was presented live online, as well as in person. As Joseph I. Sirven, MD, FAAN, current chair of the Education Committee, described the 2023 Annual Meeting, “We will have over 200 courses in a variety of formats. Every general and subspecialty area will be available to meet your needs. There are core classes fundamental to each neurologic discipline, plus cutting-edge sessions highlighting the rapid transformation of clinical neurology. There are skills workshops as well as multidisciplinary courses underscoring the commonalties between various neurological conditions and diseases. Even better, these courses are delivered the way you want to receive them. Are you looking to network? Then come

For a time, the AAN offered conferences on specific topics such as dystonia/botulinum toxin and stroke/TPA. To appeal to busy neurologists and practice managers unable to attend the Annual Meeting, the AAN introduced three-day weekend regional conferences with multiple topics beginning in Fort Lauderdale, FL, in winter 2002. The Fall Conference, typically held in October, has provided an update on core neurology and practice management topics. These smaller gatherings of several hundred attendees offer a more intimate education setting and enable greater chances to engage with presenters and network with colleagues.

In 2006, the conferences were revamped with new programming options, including dystonia workshops, half-day and evening update programs, educational colloquiums, and new practice management programs for neurologists and members of BRAINS (Business and Research Administrators in Neurology Society).

A summer Sports Concussion Conference was presented from 2014 to 2021 to help bring concussion education to athletic coaches and trainers, as well as neurologists.

In 2015, the Breakthroughs in Neurology Conference made its debut, focusing on the latest developments in neurologic research. In conjunction with this conference, a new Career Essentials Conference—focusing on education for early career neurologists—was held in January 2018.

Following the COVID-19 crisis, the AAN summer conference was refreshed in 2022 with the Autoimmune Neurology and Neurology Year in Review in San Francisco, and the AAN