Rotators in the Emergency Department: Conference Attendance, Duty Hours Compliance, Sick Call, and Other Issues. A Survey of Academic Emergency Medicine Programs

A novel online didactic curriculum helps improve knowledge acquisition among non-emergency medicine rotating residents

OBJECTIVES

Rotating residents represent a significant proportion of housestaff in academic emergency departments (EDs), yet they rarely receive targeted didactic education during their emergency medicine (EM) rotations. The goals of this study were: 1) to determine the effectiveness of an online didactic curriculum in improving EM knowledge among rotating residents and 2) to assess rotating resident satisfaction with this curriculum.

METHODS

The authors created an online lecture series of six EM subject areas targeted to rotating residents called the Northwestern University Rotating Resident Curriculum (NURRC). All rotating residents at the study site were eligible, written consent was obtained, and the study was approved by the institutional review board. Consenting participants were pretested with a 42-question multiple-choice examination and then randomized to two groups: one with access to the NURRC during the first 2 weeks of the rotation (experimental) and one without (control). Halfway through the rotation, all participants were post-tested with a different multiple-choice examination, and the controls were then granted NURRC access. The primary outcome was the difference between pretest and posttest scores (score delta). The t-test was used to compare mean scores, and a linear regression model was used to determine the association of NURRC access on score delta after adjustment for pretest type and resident type. A postintervention survey was administered at the end of the rotation to assess satisfaction with the NURRC and collect suggestions for improvement.

RESULTS

Fifty-four rotating residents were enrolled: 29 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. There was no significant difference in pretest scores between the two groups. Mean score delta was 17.3% in the experimental group and 1.6% in the control group, an absolute difference of 15.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]=10% to 22%). After adjustment for resident type and pretest type, the only variable positively associated with the primary outcome was NURRC access. Third-year and preliminary-year internal medicine (IM) residents demonstrated the greatest absolute improvement in score delta when granted NURRC access. Eighty percent of the participants responded to the satisfaction survey. Over 80% of the survey respondents approved of each component lecture and of the NURRC overall.

CONCLUSIONS

After exposure to an online didactic curriculum, rotating residents demonstrated a significant increase in EM knowledge and reported a high level of satisfaction with the didactic program.

Rotating resident didactics in the emergency department: a cross-sectional survey on current curricular practices

OBJECTIVES

Rotating (non-emergency medicine [EM]) residents perform clinical rotations in many academic emergency departments (EDs). The primary objective of this work was to quantify characteristics of rotating residents and the didactic curricula offered to them during their EM rotations. Secondary objectives were to identify barriers to instituting such didactics and to establish ideal curricular contents.

METHODS

A Web-based survey was administered by e-mail to residency directors of all U.S. allopathic EM residency programs. Consent was obtained in the first part of the survey, and the study was deemed exempt from full review by the institutional review board. Questions solicited information regarding type and quantity of rotating residents in their main EDs, the "didactic educational format" available to rotating residents, and ideal and actual didactic curricular contents. Statistics were reported as proportions and means with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and medians with interquartile ranges (IQRs).

RESULTS

Surveys were sent to 143 programs, and the response rate was 71%. Ninety-nine percent of respondents had rotating residents in their EDs, and the median number per month was 4 (IQR = 3-6). Five percent of respondents had established didactic curricula specifically for rotating residents, and 64% sent them to either EM resident or medical student lectures. Thirty-one percent of programs reported no didactics, and 65% of these felt there was no need for such education. Resuscitation, trauma, and toxicology were cited as the most important subjects for actual and ideal curricula.

CONCLUSIONS

Most academic EDs have rotating residents, but very few provide didactic education specific to their learning needs and almost a third provide no didactics.