Residents on the transport team. Balancing service and education.
OBJECTIVE
To describe an educational program for pediatric house staff who participate in interhospital transport and to present an evaluation of the educational program.


METHODS
Educational program evaluation that used multiple confidential surveys of participating pediatric house staff.


METHODS
The interhospital transport team of a large, urban pediatric hospital.


METHODS
Twenty-six pediatric second-year residents who participated in required rotations with the transport service.


METHODS
The institution of an educational program designed specifically for the clinical transport rotation.


RESULTS
Before their service with the transport team, residents have doubts about their clinical skills, fund of knowledge, and ability to practice independently in a mobile environment. These doubts decrease as the residents participate in the educational program during their transport clinical service. All residents perceive service on the transport rotation to be of educational benefit with regard to communications or cognitive skills. Alternatively, transport service provides little opportunity for residents to improve technical skills. Among the various skills that residents could obtain during transport service, improvement in clinical judgement was most commonly cited by residents who performed more than 10 transports. Among the specific curricular components in the educational program, interactive teaching methods were judged to be more valuable than written materials.


CONCLUSIONS
Serving as a physician on interhospital transports can be an important educational opportunity for pediatric house staff when that experience is concentrated in a designated rotation and combined with a focused educational program. Contrary to expectations, there was little opportunity for residents to develop technical skills on transport. Therefore, educators should focus on the development of communications and cognitive skills. Interhospital transport programs that debate the use of residents as members of the service should consider the potential educational benefit of the clinical service to house staff.
Durbin
D R
DR
Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Pa), USA.
Giardino
A P
AP
Costarino
A T
AT
D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000379:methods*; D010360:Patient Transfer; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014505:Urban Population