In many residency programs, the need for accessible and up-to-date information is critical for effective training and patient care. Traditional residency handbooks, often updated annually, can sometimes fall short in providing real-time access to evolving guidelines and best practices.
Under the leadership of Zain Guduru, MD, associate professor of neurology and resident program director, a team of residents have worked over the last three years to create a virtual handbook to address this need.
As the team worked on the project, they recognized a critical need within the program— essential knowledge and ‘best practices’ weren’t uniformly accessible by all residents.
For instance, important changes might be forgotten if they were only communicated via email to residents. To address this, they created a virtual, real-time, editable handbook for residents that could be updated immediately with new information, ensuring residents always had access to the most current guidelines and policies, and improving workflow and communication.
“Sometimes there were certain things we would learn on the service, that may or may not get shared in an email with the other residents, so if you’re not there, you wouldn’t know,” shared Lauren Bojarksi, DO, who worked on the project as a resident.
These combined factors led to the formal establishment of the Virtual Neurology Handbook (VNH)—a digital repository that consolidates years of resident expertise into a single, accessible resource via the OneNote app.
The handbook became a comprehensive digital resource aimed at standardizing access to critical information for residents on service. The updated virtual format allows residents to access the most current information, streamline communication and important updates, and enhance learning across specialties. By fostering collaboration and enabling continuous updates, tools like the VNH can strengthen the way medical knowledge is shared and maintained within residency programs.
According to Dr. Bojarski, the VNH is more than just a handbook, but a living document enriched by the contributions of past and future residents alike. It contains practical insights on everything from procedural details like placing orders for MRI to more nuanced clinical decisions in neurology. As she aptly summarizes, "it's like a safe way to Google years of resident knowledge.”
“I hope that people can use it and will add to it because it is a growing, living document of all the information you need to be successful as a resident,” shared Dr. Bojarski. “It makes me feel connected to my predecessors and helps me feel connected to the people who will come after I leave because we'll still have that shared handbook of experiential information.”
Encouraged by its preliminary success, the team has shared their VNH template, inspiring colleagues across various specialties to create similar resources tailored to their fields. Since it was published online, the VNH has been viewed more than 5,000 times.
The team detailed their creative process, available here, so that anyone may recreate the handbook to fit their unique needs. “It's not just for neurology,” shared Dr. Bojarski. “It can be used for cardiology, for internal medicine, it can be tailored for whatever specialty you want. All you have to do is just follow the directions to create it for yourself and your specialty.”
The project was recently selected to receive the prestigious David C. Leach Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). ACGME created the award to honor former ACGME Executive Director, David C. Leach, MD, for his contributions to resident education and well-being. The annual award continues to acknowledge and honor resident and fellow teams and their contributions toward improving graduate medical education.
UK College of Medicine team members recognized with this honor include Dr. Bojarski, Dr. Guduru, Patricia Olson, MD, PhD, Trevor Logan, MD, PhD, Andrew Williams, DO, and Jamie Roberts, an advanced practice provider within the department.
Dr. Logan and Dr. Williams continue to update the VHN as residents, with support from Roberts and Dr. Guduru. Dr. Olson completed her neurology residency in June 2023 before joining Indiana University School of Medicine as an assistant professor of neurology. Dr. Bojarski completed her neurology residency in June 2024. Soon thereafter, she started a geriatric neurology fellowship at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and has already started working on creating a similar handbook for the program.
The team will be recognized and presented with their award during the 2025 ACGME Annual Education Conference in Nashville, Tenn.in Feb. 2025.