To assess the effectiveness, relevance, and feasibility of the Neurocritical Care Society’s Emergency Neurological Life Support (ENLS) course delivered via Zoom to African healthcare professionals.

Neurological disorders are the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years worldwide. Low and middle income countries bear the majority of this burden but have the fewest neurologists per population and limited opportunities for neurological training.

318 participants (46% female; 56% residents; 34% neurologists; 9.0 + 6.7 years practicing medicine) from 11 African countries completed the pre-course self-assessment and 232 the post-course self-assessment. There were no statistically significant differences between these groups. Pre-course, topics with the highest proportion of participants reporting they were either uncomfortable or very uncomfortable managing included spinal cord injury (45%), airway management (40%), increased intracranial pressure (38%), spinal cord compression (36%), and traumatic brain injury (33%). Pre-course and post-course comfort levels showed statistically significant improvements (p<0.001) across all topics. 95% of participants found the course to be relevant to their current practice setting. The majority agreed the Zoom online platform was easy to use (94%) and an appropriate method of delivery that facilitated their learning (93%). However, 39% of participants reported that technical issues or internet connectivity made it difficult to fully participate in the course.