James Ahn

Assessing the accreditation council for graduate medical education requirement for temporary cardiac pacing procedural competency through simulation.

Purpose: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) guidelines recommend that residents perform 6 cardiac pacing attempts during residency training, while making no distinction between transcutaneous pacing (TCP) or transvenous pacing (TVP). This study seeks to enhance and validate emergency medicine residency curricula by assessing and measuring the minimum number of performances for TCP and TVP through simulation for procedural competency. Methods: In 2009–2010, 36 residents were invited to the simulation laboratory to participate in individual procedural training sessions. The residents each rotated through the 2 following partial-task training stations staffed by faculty members: (1) TVP and (2) TCP. Using the process of deliberate practice, the procedures were repeated until the faculty members had determined procedural competency defined as 2 completions without error via a preset checklist. Results: Residents required a mean (SD) of 3.11 (0.56) attempts and a median of 3 attempts to successfully perform TCP and a mean (SD) of 5.25 (0.94) attempts and a median of 6 attempts to successfully perform TVP. Learners required a mean (SD) total number of 8.39 (1.09) attempts and a median of 9 attempts to achieve competency at cardiac pacing. No resident required more than 5 attempts to achieve competency in TCP; no resident required more than 6 attempts to achieve competency in TVP. Conclusions: When measuring TVP alone, the number of attempts to achieve competency are comparable with that of the ACGME guidelines. When accounting for both TCP and TVP, the number of attempts required to achieve competency is greater than those delineated by the ACGME guidelines. The results of this trial warrant continuation and reproduction on a larger scale to revisit the ACGME guidelines.

Four strategies to find, evaluate, and engage with online resources in emergency medicine

Despite the rapid expansion of online educational resources for emergency medicine, barriers remain to their effective use by emergency physicians and trainees. This article expands on previous descriptions of techniques to aggregate online educational resources, outlining four strategies to help learners navigate, evaluate, and contribute online. These strategies include 1) cultivating digital mentors, 2) browsing the most popular free open access medical education (FOAM) websites, 3) using critical appraisal tools developed for FOAM, and 4) contributing new online content.

Mastery Learning of Video Laryngoscopy Using the Glidescope in the Emergency Department

Introduction According to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education emergency medicine requirements established before the popularity of video laryngoscopy (VL) use, 35 intubations are necessary for graduation. Our study aimed to establish a mastery-learning model for a skill set very different (VL) from direct laryngoscopy (DL) and to determine the number of attempts needed to achieve mastery with VL. Methods With the use of a randomized, controlled crossover study design, two learner groups underwent baseline testing intubating a mannequin using VL. Afterward, the intervention group received a mastery training intervention. After training, learners were required to repeat the procedure until achievement of 100% on the checklist for two consecutive attempts was achieved. After 3 months, both groups returned for retesting, and the control group received the same mastery training as the intervention group. Both groups returned for final testing after another 3 months. Results The intervention arm had an improvement in performance versus the control arm at 3 months of total time (P < 0.05). Both groups had an improvement within their groups’ checklist scores at 3 months after training (P < 0.05), and within the intervention arm, this effect was sustained at 6 months (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the mean required attempts to demonstrate mastery (overall, 2.5; intervention, 2.75; control 2.25; P = 0.28). Conclusions Simulation-based mastery-learning produces skill enhancement with VL that is resistant to decay across 6 months. Furthermore, although a small number of attempts are needed to achieve mastery, clinical experience did not substitute as a proxy for skill acquisition. This mastery-learning model provides skill sets that are not otherwise obtained in the clinical curriculum in a 3-month period.

Toward a Resident Personal Finance Curriculum: Quantifying Resident Financial Circumstances, Needs, and Interests

Introduction Resident financial health has been linked to wellness and resiliency, yet financial literacy among residents is highly variable. While some medical school curricula include budgeting and student loan education, content on managing finances as a resident is usually lacking. We sought to quantitatively assess residents’ financial circumstances, needs, and interests to inform the design of a resident personal finance curriculum. Methods Surveys were sent to residents in eight specialties at an academic medical center. Likert-type responses allowed respondents to rate their level of comfort (1 = Very Uncomfortable, 7 = Very Comfortable) and interest (1 = Very Uninterested, 7 = Very Interested) in various personal finance topics including budgeting, loan repayment, disability insurance, life insurance, home buying, and retirement planning. Details regarding financial circumstances, including assets, liabilities, and insurance, were also collected. Results of questions that utilized a Likert-type scale are reported as median (interquartile range). Results Of 346 residents surveyed, 144 (41.6%) responded. Residents were from Internal Medicine (56, 38.9%), Pediatrics (34, 23.6%), Emergency Medicine (18, 12.5%), and other specialties (36, 25.0%). Ninety-one (63.2%) reported educational loans, with an average balance of

Personal Finance Education for Residents: A Qualitative Study of Resident Perspectives

191,730. Credit card balances exceeding

A Novel Collaboration to Reduce the Travel-Related Cost of Residency Interviewing

3,000 were reported by 11 (7.6%) respondents. One-hundred-two (70.1%) reported emergency savings, but only 65 (45.1%) reported having a retirement account (average balance

A Needs Assessment for a Longitudinal Emergency Medicine Intern Curriculum

27,608). Respondents rated highest comfort levels with budgeting (5[4–6]), and lowest level of comfort with disability insurance (2[2–4]) and home buying (2[2–5]). Interest in learning each topic was high (6[5–7]), with retirement planning (6[5–7]), investing (6[5–7]), and home buying (6[5–7]) the topics of highest interest. Conclusion These results highlight the deficits in personal finance literacy among residents. Future work should focus on development of a nationally scalable personal finance curriculum for residents.

Crowdsourced Curriculum Development for Online Medical Education

Personal finance has been linked to wellness and resiliency; however, the level of financial literacy among residents is low. Development of a personal finance curriculum could improve the financial well‐being of trainees. The first step in this process is understanding residents’ educational needs.

Impact of a Dedicated Emergency Medicine Teaching Resident Rotation at a Large Urban Academic Center

Introduction Interviewing for residency is a complicated and often expensive endeavor. Literature has estimated interview costs of

The Graduate Medical Education Scholars Track: Developing Residents as Clinician–Educators During Clinical Training via a Longitudinal, Multimodal, and Multidisciplinary Track

4,000 to