A Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Boot Camp improves trainee confidence.
Introduction New paediatric cardiology trainees are required to rapidly assimilate knowledge and gain clinical skills to which they have limited or no exposure during residency. The Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Boot Camp (PCBC) at Boston Children's Hospital was designed to provide incoming fellows with an intensive exposure to congenital cardiac pathology and a broad overview of major areas of paediatric cardiology practice.


METHODS
The PCBC curriculum was designed by core faculty in cardiac pathology, echocardiography, electrophysiology, interventional cardiology, exercise physiology, and cardiac intensive care. Individual faculty contributed learning objectives, which were refined by fellowship directors and used to build a programme of didactics, hands-on/simulation-based activities, and self-guided learning opportunities.


RESULTS
A total of 16 incoming fellows participated in the 4-week boot camp, with no concurrent clinical responsibilities, over 2 years. On the basis of pre- and post-PCBC surveys, 80% of trainees strongly agreed that they felt more prepared for clinical responsibilities, and a similar percentage felt that PCBC should be offered to future incoming fellows. Fellows showed significant increase in their confidence in all specific knowledge and skills related to the learning objectives. Fellows rated hands-on learning experiences and simulation-based exercises most highly.


CONCLUSIONS
We describe a novel 4-week-long boot camp designed to expose incoming paediatric cardiology fellows to the broad spectrum of knowledge and skills required for the practice of paediatric cardiology. The experience increased trainee confidence and sense of preparedness to begin fellowship-related responsibilities. Given that highly interactive activities were rated most highly, boot camps in paediatric cardiology should strongly emphasise these elements.
1Department of Cardiology,Harvard Medical School,Boston Children's Hospital,Boston,Massachusetts,United States of America.
Catherine K
CK
Allan
1Department of Cardiology,Harvard Medical School,Boston Children's Hospital,Boston,Massachusetts,United States of America.
Paul
P
Tannous
1Department of Cardiology,Harvard Medical School,Boston Children's Hospital,Boston,Massachusetts,United States of America.
Elizabeth
E
DeWitt
1Department of Cardiology,Harvard Medical School,Boston Children's Hospital,Boston,Massachusetts,United States of America.
Michael
M
Farias
1Department of Cardiology,Harvard Medical School,Boston Children's Hospital,Boston,Massachusetts,United States of America.
Laura
L
Mansfield
2Department of Pediatrics,Division of Pediatric Cardiology,Oregon Health Sciences University,Portland,Oregon,USA.
Christina
C
Ronai
3Heart Center,Children's National Medical Center,George Washington University,Washington, DC,USA.
David
D
Schidlow
1Department of Cardiology,Harvard Medical School,Boston Children's Hospital,Boston,Massachusetts,United States of America.
Stephen P
SP
Sanders
1Department of Cardiology,Harvard Medical School,Boston Children's Hospital,Boston,Massachusetts,United States of America.
James E
JE
Lock
1Department of Cardiology,Harvard Medical School,Boston Children's Hospital,Boston,Massachusetts,United States of America.
Jane W
JW
Newburger
1Department of Cardiology,Harvard Medical School,Boston Children's Hospital,Boston,Massachusetts,United States of America.
David W
DW
Brown
D002309:Cardiology / Q000193:education*; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000592:standards*
Fellowship training; boot camp; medical education; paediatric cardiology; simulation