A Novel Simulation-Based Approach to Enhance Anesthesiologists' Electroencephalography Training and Education.

Perioperative electroencephalography (EEG) has expanding clinical relevance in anesthesia; however, structured, real-time EEG education remains inconsistent, leading to incomplete understanding and underutilization in practice. This article reviews the educational gap, articulates why anesthesiologists should acquire foundational competence in interpreting raw EEG and spectrograms in addition to processed indices, and proposes a simulation-based strategy to deliver standardized, hands-on training. The rationale is grounded in current practice constraints and contrasted with the trainability and clinical utility of waveform interpretation. The proposed approach uses an EEG simulator integrated with a commercial monitor to create reproducible scenarios that progress from induction to emergence and burst suppression, allowing deliberate practice, artifact recognition, and discussion of index lag and clinical implications. As supportive evidence, a one-hour faculty development session using the SEDSIM-SedLine setup elicited uniformly positive evaluations from respondents, who rated usefulness, realism, and impact on EEG interpretation at the highest level and identified priority use cases such as TIVA, select neuroanesthesia, and frail/high-risk patients. These early impressions suggest simulation can feasibly address the documented training gap and provide a scalable pathway for competency-based EEG education, while future work should formalize curricula, assessment benchmarks, and longitudinal outcomes.

Objectives: This article synthesizes the need for perioperative EEG education in anesthesiology, delineate the current training gap, and propose a novel simulation-based strategy to standardize and accelerate competency in raw EEG and spectrogram interpretation; secondarily, to present early user feedback from a pilot faculty session as supportive evidence for feasibility and educational value.

Design: Narrative review with a descriptive pilot educational experience using an EEG simulator integrated with a commercial anesthesia EEG monitor; immediate post-session survey for formative evaluation.

Setting: Single-center academic anesthesiology faculty development session conducted in a controlled educational environment with real-time display on a SedLine monitor.

Participants: Anesthesiology faculty; fourteen completed the post-session survey.

Interventions: A one-hour, highly interactive simulation comprising a concise didactic review (PSI, spectral edge frequency, suppression ratio, raw EEG and DSA interpretation) followed by four guided scenarios: induction, emergence, burst suppression, and anesthetic agent effects. The format emphasized real-time interpretation, artifact awareness, index lag during state transitions, and clinical decision-making.

Measurements and main results: Post-session survey of satisfaction, perceived usefulness, realism, and impact on EEG interpretation skills. Respondents reported high engagement; most rated usefulness, skill impact, and realism at 5/5. Participants cited priority contexts for EEG-guided management (TIVA, select neuroanesthesia, frail/high-risk patients, complex cases), suggested longer hands-on time, reported no major technical issues, and indicated they would recommend the simulation session.

Conclusions: EEG education in anesthesiology is required yet inconsistently delivered; simulation offers a practical, standardized, and interactive solution to bridge this gap by cultivating waveform literacy alongside processed indices. Early faculty feedback supports the feasibility and perceived educational value of the proposed simulation-based approach, warranting its integration into curricula and further development of competency benchmarks and longitudinal assessments.