title: An education program on office medical emergency preparedness for primary care pediatricians.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pediatric clinics are ill-prepared in handling medical emergencies. Life-support education, though recommended, has not been evaluated in pediatric primary care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective is to evaluate effectiveness of education in improving knowledge and learner-perceived comfort in managing pediatric office emergencies.
  
  
  METHODS
  An education program was conducted at 6 pediatric practices. Pre-post program knowledge improvement (15-item questionnaire) and comfort (10-level Likert scale) was assessed using T tests and Cohen's d. Long-term knowledge was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Physicians demonstrated significant improvement in mean knowledge scores: 1.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.76, 2.91], effect size (d=0.98), whereas nurses had a smaller, nonsignificant improvement: 0.59, 95% CI [-0.19, 1.37], effect size (d=0.24). A significant improvement in mean comfort scores was observed among both physicians: 1.3, 95% CI [0.9, 1.7] and nurses, 1.4, 95% CI [0.7, 2.1]. Among physicians, percentage correct answers on the knowledge test was 79% (baseline), 91% (posttest), and 80% at 3 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Education in pediatric office emergency preparedness leads to short-term knowledge improvement among physicians, but gains are not sustained.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. rshenoi@bcm.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Rohit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shenoi
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Faria
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pereira
mesh_terms: D004521:Educational Measurement; D004630:Emergencies; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D010824:Physicians' Offices; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011320:Primary Health Care