The World Stroke Academy: A World Stroke Organization global pathway to improve knowledge in stroke care

BACKGROUND: The World Stroke Academy (WSA) (www.world-stroke-academy.org) is the educational platform of the World Stroke Organization (WSO). It facilitates educational activities (e.g. webinars and eLearning modules) and supports the WSO mission by providing high-quality stroke education to healthcare professionals. It provides evidence-based educational materials in a variety of formats to meet the needs of the WSO membership. AIM: This article introduces the WSA, its core activities, and outlines how to access the many educational resources it offers. RESULTS: The WSA offers high-quality peer reviewed stroke education material and uses outcome metrics to assess and improve the quality of medical training of healthcare professionals. This article also highlights the importance of identifying knowledge and knowledge-to-action gaps through the creation of special projects and initiatives. It describes three areas in which the WSA has carried out recent educational initiatives, namely: life after stroke, women in stroke, and stroke checklist/pre-printed stroke orders. CONCLUSION: WSA material is freely available, and we would encourage the global stroke community to use, and contribute to, its resources.