Author(s)
Sarah Dermody MD
Maria Masciello BS
Sonya Malekzadeh MD
Affiliation(s)
Georgetown University School of Medicine; MedStar Georgetown University Hospital ;
Abstract:
Educational Objective: At the conclusion of this presentation, the participants should be able to understand and adapt a multispecialty curriculum for medical students which provides an accelerated introduction to the specific technical, cognitive, and behavioral skills necessary for successful clinical management of complex airway scenarios while fostering interprofessional development. Medical educators should be able to introduce this curriculum into their home institutions following this presentation.
Objectives: 1) To develop a novel multispecialty simulation based curriculum that teaches both technical and nontechnical skills in the management of adult and pediatric critical airways to graduating medical students; and 2) to encourage a collaborative, multispecialty approach to the management of a difficult airway amongst fourth year medical students who have matched into otolaryngology, anesthesia and emergency medicine residency programs.
Study Design: Survey.
Methods: Fourth year medical students who matched into otolaryngology, anesthesia, and emergency medicine participated in an intensive half day course consisting of a series of hands-on skills stations with graduated complexity, followed by simulated complex patient scenarios designed for shared management of airway emergencies. Faculty from the three disciplines served as instructors of the course. Participants completed questionnaires before and immediately after course completion. The Fischer's exact test was utilized to compare data between the pre-course and post-course. Free text responses were qualitatively assessed to inform curriculum development.
Results: Thirty-four medical students enrolled (6 otolaryngology, 15 anesthesia, 13 EM), 30 students completed both surveys. A Fisher's exact test demonstrated improved confidence (p<0.05) for every skill. Greater than 85% of participants strongly agreed or agreed that the intervention was useful in developing their knowledge, technical skills, self-confidence, and improving clinical performance prior to residency.
Conclusions: This critical airway curriculum introduces a multispecialty simulation based course designed to onboard graduating medical students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors for critical airway management while fostering interprofessional collaboration. Our curriculum was successful in improving confidence and was perceived as useful in developing knowledge, technical skills, self-confidence, and clinical performance prior to residency.