We developed and distributed a survey to behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry (BNNP) fellowship directors and fellows, both current and recent, to identify how well the topics as specified by the United Council for Neurologic Specialties (UCNS) are covered. 

BNNP fellowships are designed to provide clinical and research training to the fellows and prepare them for practice in this specialty. BNNP fellowships are accredited by the UCNS, which also credentials the specialty BNNP board exams, though there is no standard curriculum used across programs. 

The anonymous survey was distributed to BNNP fellowship directors, who were asked to send the survey to their current (graduating 2021) and recent (graduating 2015-2020) fellows. 

Thirty-nine BNNP programs were contacted. Sixteen program directors and thirteen current and recent fellows responded. We identified seventeen topics that >50% of respondents identified as “mostly” or “completely” covered. More than 50% of respondents marked eight topics as “partially” or “not covered,” such as neurochemistry and non-invasive neuromodulation. For the remaining seven topics, more than 40% of respondents felt were “partially” or “not covered,” such as areas within structural and functional neuroanatomy (e.g., cerebral cortex, brainstem) and non-pharmacological interventions. 

By distributing a survey about BNNP topics and education to fellowship directors and fellows, we found common areas of strength and weakness in specific topics across programs. Fellowships may find this useful to improve their curricula. We plan to use this information to develop an online educational resource for BNNP programs, the Online Core Curriculum and Mastery (OCCAM)-BNNP.