Our Mission
To advance accessibility in child neurology education through a strong clinical foundation, intentional cultivation of learner agency, and a commitment to equitable success, we partner with residency programs to support deep learning, clinical mastery, and lifelong professional growth.
Our Story
ABCs of Child Neurology was created to address a gap in how we teach and learn our field. In 2023, program leadership at the University of Colorado identified an imbalance in child neurology training. While differences between inpatient and outpatient experiences were evident in clinical care, they were also reflected in the curriculum. As we reviewed national training expectations through ACGME and ABPN, it became clear that we could better support our residents in two critical areas: self-directed learning and evidence-based medicine.
At the time, access to high-yield literature was fragmented. Evidence-based resources were often limited to physical collections of articles in clinic workrooms. Self-directed learning was equally challenging, as most neurology resources offered only brief sections on child neurology rather than comprehensive, dedicated content for our field. Looking beyond our institution, we found that this was not a local issue, but a shared challenge across training programs nationwide.
In response, our team developed ABCs of Child Neurology, a curated, article-based curriculum designed to establish a strong foundation of knowledge across the discipline. The goal was to provide learners with a structured clinical scaffold to build upon as they encountered patients with a wide range of conditions.
As the curriculum was implemented, learners consistently asked for more: more topics, more depth, and broader representation of the field. This feedback has shaped ABCs into an expanding, comprehensive, living curriculum that continues to evolve alongside the needs of learners and educators.
At its core, ABCs is designed to do more than deliver content. It seeks to:
- Support self-directed learning within residency training
- Create a shared language between learners and educators
- Promote deeper, clinically relevant understanding
- Advance equity in educational access across diverse training environments
We envision ABCs as a curriculum that can be integrated across programs, practice settings, and institutions, helping to standardize foundational knowledge while preserving the richness and variability of clinical training.
Editorial Board
Editor in Chief
Elizabeth Troy, MD, founder of ABCs of Child Neurology, is a child neurologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Her academic work centers on medical education, with focused interests in asynchronous learning, learner assessment, and mentorship.
Her educational philosophy emphasizes fostering an approachable and supportive environment in which learners feel empowered to engage with complex material.
Editorial Team
Megan Abbott, MD
Editor of Epilepsy
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Amanda Romeu, DO
Editor of Epilepsy
Emory University School of Medicine
Michelle S. Tutmaher, DO
Editor of Headache
Emory University School of Medicine
Daniel Noam Lax, MD
Editor of Headache
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Hannah Gilbert, MD
Editor of Movement
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Abigail Schwaede, MD
Editor of Neuromuscular
Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Emmanuelle Tiongson, MD
Editor of Neuromuscular
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine of USC
Rachel Pearson, MD
Editor of Neurocritical Care
University of California, Irvine and Rady Children’s Health, Orange County
Jerry Jewell, MD
Editor of Neurocritical Care
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Dylan Brock, MD
Editor of Neurogenetics
University of Louisville
Marie Varnet, MD
Editor of Neurodevelopmental Disabilities
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Shivani Misra. MD
Editor of Neurodevelopmental Disabilities
Duke University School of Medicine
Varun Kannan, MD
Editor of Neuroimmunology
Emory University School of Medicine
Matthew Doerfler, MD
Editor of Neuroimmunology
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Erin Guth, MD
Editor of Vascular
University of Virginia
Kaylene Fiala, MD, MA
Editor of Sleep
Medical College of Wisconsin