Are pediatric emergency medicine training programs meeting their goals and objectives? A self-assessment of individuals completing fellowship training in 1993.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the overall training experience of those individuals completing fellowships in pediatric emergency medicine. Specific attention was given to the technical skills portion of training as set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics Curriculum Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine. We surveyed those individuals completing their second year of fellowship training in pediatric emergency medicine. The questionnaire incorporated a self-assessment of the technical skills portion of the Subcommittee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine's most recent curriculum statement. It also contained several questions designed to evaluate the overall training experience. Eighty percent of respondents completing the self-assessment questionnaire rated their overall experience as favorable, whereas those who rated it unfavorable stressed a lack of training in research and teaching. Ninety-two percent of respondents felt they had a good clinical experience, but 80% expressed a need for further training in administration, 74% in research, and 46% in teaching. Although the majority claimed to be comfortable with most technical skills, several skills, including lifesaving procedures such as external pacing, peritoneal lavage, pericardiocentesis, shunt tap, airway foreign body removal, and needle cricothyrotomy, posed a significant degree of discomfort.
Simon
H K
HK
Department of Pediatrics, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University, Providence 02903.
Steele
D W
DW
Lewander
W J
WJ
Linakis
J G
JG
D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards*; D012655:Self-Evaluation Programs; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires