A multinational randomised study comparing didactic lectures with case scenario in a severe sepsis medical simulation course

Chih Huang Li, Win Sen Kuan, Malcolm Mahadevan, Lynda Daniel-Underwood, Te Fa Chiu, H. Bryant Nguyen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background: Medical simulation has been used to teach critical illness in a variety of settings. This study examined the effect of didactic lectures compared with simulated case scenario in a medical simulation course on the early management of severe sepsis. Methods: A prospective multicentre randomised study was performed enrolling resident physicians in emergency medicine from four hospitals in Asia. Participants were randomly assigned to a course that included didactic lectures followed by a skills workshop and simulated case scenario (lecture-first) or to a course that included a skills workshop and simulated case scenario followed by didactic lectures (simulation-first). A pre-test was given to the participants at the beginning of the course, post-test 1 was given after the didactic lectures or simulated case scenario depending on the study group assignment, then a final post-test 2 was given at the end of the course. Performance on the simulated case scenario was evaluated with a performance task checklist. Results: 98 participants were enrolled in the study. Posttest 2 scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores in all participants (80.8±12.0% vs 65.4±12.2%, p<0.01). There was no difference in pre-test scores between the two study groups. The lecture-first group had significantly higher post-test 1 scores than the simulationfirst group (78.8±10.6% vs 71.6±12.6%, p<0.01). There was no difference in post-test 2 scores between the two groups. The simulated case scenario task performance completion was 90.8% (95% CI 86.6% to 95.0%) in the lecture-first group compared with 83.8% (95% CI 79.5% to 88.1%) in the simulation-first group (p=0.02). Conclusions: A medical simulation course can improve resident physician knowledge in the early management of severe sepsis. Such a course should include a comprehensive curriculum that includes didactic lectures followed by simulation experience.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)559-564
Number of pages6
JournalEmergency Medicine Journal
Volume29
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2012

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Emergency Medicine
  • Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine

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