Simulation center accreditation and programmatic benchmarks: a review for emergency medicine.

Simulation center accreditation and programmatic benchmarks: a review for emergency medicine.

Fernandez R, Wang E, Vozenilek JA, Hayden E, McLaughlin S, Godwin SA, Griswold-Theodorson S, Davenport M, Gordon JA,

Simulation center accreditation and programmatic benchmarks: a review for emergency medicine.

Acad Emerg Med. 2010 Oct;17(10):1093-103

Authors: Fernandez R, Wang E, Vozenilek JA, Hayden E, McLaughlin S, Godwin SA, Griswold-Theodorson S, Davenport M, Gordon JA,

Simulation-based education has grown significantly over the past 10 years. As a result, more professional organizations are developing or implementing accreditation processes to help define minimum standards and best practices in simulation-based training. However, the benefits and potential pitfalls of sponsoring and implementing such programs have yet to be fully evaluated across specialties. The board of directors of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) requested an evaluation of the potential to create an emergency medicine (EM)-based Simulation Consultation and Accreditation Service. In response to this request, the Simulation Accreditation and Consultation Work Group, a subgroup of the Committee on Technology in Medical Education (now Simulation Academy), was created. The work group was charged with: 1) reviewing current benchmarks and standards set by existing simulation accreditation programs; 2) analyzing current EM simulation program structures, including leadership, administrative, and financial components; and 3) proposing a potential model for EM-based simulation accreditation. This article outlines currently existing and proposed accreditation models and identifies components that support best practices. It then goes on to describe three general programmatic models to better understand how simulation training can be operationalized in EM. Finally, the work group uses this collective information to propose how an accreditation process, in concert with the SAEM Simulation Consultation Service, can enhance and advance EM simulation training.
PMID: 21040111 [PubMed - in process]

Pediatric residents' ability to perform a lumbar puncture: evaluation of an educational intervention.

Pediatric residents' ability to perform a lumbar puncture: evaluation of an educational intervention.

Kilbane BJ, Adler MD, Trainor JL

Pediatr Emerg Care. 2010 Aug;26(8):558-62

Authors: Kilbane BJ, Adler MD, Trainor JL


Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the baseline ability of pediatric residents to successfully perform a lumbar puncture (LP) and to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on this skill in both a simulated and clinical environment.

METHODS: An experimental group of first-year residents and a control group of second-year residents were enrolled in a prospective nonrandomized intervention study. Knowledge and skill at performing LPs were assessed using a written and a simulated LP test. The experimental group was tested at the start of their residency and then received the educational intervention. They were retested 6 months later. The control group did not receive the educational intervention and were tested at the start of their second year. The outcomes of clinical LPs performed by the 2 groups were also recorded.

RESULTS: The experimental group showed significant improvement on both the written and the simulated LP test after the educational intervention. When compared with the control group, they performed the simulated LP significantly better as measured by the number of correctly performed steps. Both groups performed a low number of clinical LPs.

CONCLUSIONS: After an educational intervention, pediatric first-year residents performed a simulated LP better than a group of second-year residents who had greater clinical LP experience. The low number of clinical LPs performed limits our ability to determine the educational intervention's impact in the clinical setting and reinforces the concern that recent changes to pediatric residencies may negatively impact residents' procedural experience.

PMID: 20657337 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]