title: Does teaching non-technical skills to medical students improve those skills and simulated patient outcome?
abstract: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a tailor-made, non-technical skills seminar on medical student's behaviour, attitudes, and performance during simulated patient treatment.
  
  
  
  Seventy-seven students were randomized to either a non-technical skills seminar (NTS group, n=43) or a medical seminar (control group, n=34). The human patient simulation was used as an evaluation tool. Before the seminars, all students performed the same simulated emergency scenario to provide baseline measurements. After the seminars, all students were exposed to a second scenario, and behavioural markers for evaluating their non-technical skills were rated. Furthermore, teamwork-relevant attitudes were measured before and after the scenarios, and perceived stress was measured following each simulation. All simulations were also evaluated for various medical endpoints.
  
  
  
  Non-technical skills concerning situation awareness (p<.01, r=0.5) and teamwork (p<.01, r=0.45) improved from simulation I to II in the NTS group. Decision making improved in both groups (NTS: p<.01, r=0.39; control: p<.01, r=0.46). The attitude 'handling errors' improved significantly in the NTS group (p<.05, r=0.34). Perceived stress decreased from simulation I to II in both groups. Medical endpoints and patients´ outcome did not differ significantly between the groups in simulation II.
  
  
  
  This study highlights the effectiveness of a single brief seminar on non-technical skills to improve student's non-technical skills. In a next step, to improve student's handling of emergencies and patient outcomes, non-technical skills seminars should be accompanied by exercises and more broadly embedded in the medical school curriculum.
authors.affiliation: Business and Organizational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hagemann
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University of Duisburg-Essen and University Hospital Essen, Germany. These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Herbstreit
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University of Duisburg-Essen and University Hospital Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kehren
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University of Duisburg-Essen and University Hospital Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jilson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chittamadathil
authors.affiliation: Business Psychology, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolfertz
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University of Duisburg-Essen and University Hospital Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dirkmann
authors.affiliation: Business and Organizational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kluge
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University of Duisburg-Essen and University Hospital Essen, Germany. These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peters
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D003657:Decision Making; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000523:psychology; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D016544:Patient Simulation; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology
keywords: human patient simulation; medical students; non-technical skills; reliable teamwork; teamwork-relevant attitudes