Abstracts

Rationale: Academic epileptologists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (UCH) have not previously systematically defined the requirements for a Full Time Employee (FTE). A web-based, national cross-sectional study was performed to compare workload and clinical responsibilities of epileptologists at comparable level 4 National Association of Epilepsy Center (NAEC) academic institutions. Methods: A web-based national survey was developed. This survey was pretested and subsequently pilot tested among UCH epileptologists.  Ninety-three level 4 NAEC centers were identified. These centers were then cross referenced against the AAMC national centers and AAMC Hospital/Health System Members to identify Level 4 Academic Epilepsy Centers. An electronic version of this survey was sent to medical directors of the identified NAEC Level 4 Academic Epilepsy centers. Survey respondents were incentivized by knowledge that they would receive the results of the survey. No financial incentives were provided for completing the survey. Results: The response rate was 46 % (n= 43/93). There was a great degree of variability in all survey domains including 1) number of faculty members, 2) number of weeks/year on call/service, 3) patient census on both EMU and cEEG 4) call structure and 5) outpatient responsibilities. The median number of clinical faculty members was 5 (SD=2.5). The number of half days of clinic were inversely correlated to the number of faculty members within the practice using Pearson correlation, -0.42 (p = 0.0069). The EMU volume was directly correlated with the number of faculty members in the practice, Pearson correlation, 0.55 (p=0.0003). Conclusions: There are currently no national standards to define the work of a full time academic epileptologist and a great degree of variability exists across hospital systems. The high response rate of the survey, despite the lack of financial suggests a great need for this type of information. Funding: No funding