title: Development of a Curriculum on the Child With Medical Complexity: Filling a Gap When Few Practice Guidelines Exist.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pediatric hospitalists are increasingly involved in the clinical management of children with medical complexity (CMC), specifically those with neurologic impairment and technology dependence. Clinical care guidelines and educational resources on management of the diseases and devices prevalent in CMC are scarce. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a web-based curriculum on care of CMC for hospitalists at our institution using a novel approach to validate educational content.
  
  
  METHODS
  Junior faculty collaborated with senior hospitalist peer mentors to create multimedia learning modules on highly-desired topics as determined by needs assessment. Module authors were encouraged to work with subspecialty experts from within the institution and to submit their modules for external peer review. Pilot study participants were asked to complete all modules, associated knowledge tests, and evaluations over a 4-month period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixteen of 33 eligible hospitalists completed the curriculum and associated assessments. High scores with respect to satisfaction were seen across all modules. There was a significant increase in posttest knowledge scores (P < 0.001) with sustained retention at 6 months posttest (P < 0.013). Participants were most likely to make changes to their teaching and clinical practice based on participation in this curriculum.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We used a novel approach for content development in this curriculum that incorporated consultation with experts and external peer review, resulting in improved knowledge, high satisfaction, and behavior change. Our approach may be a useful method to improve content validity for educational resources on topics that do not have established clinical care guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Drs. Shah, Anspacher, Davis, and Bhansali: Assistant Professors of Pediatrics, Division of Hospitalist Medicine, Children's National Medical Center and The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington DC.
authors.forename: Neha H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anspacher
authors.forename: Aisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Priti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhansali
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003479:Curriculum; D004219:District of Columbia; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D020445:Hospitalists / Q000193:education*; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D019212:Multimedia; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies