1098 Rapid Fire Hepatology: A Pilot Study of a Near-Peer, Speed-Teaching Hepatology Curriculum on a Dedicated Inpatient Liver Service

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Near-peer teaching, trainees educating other trainees, is a valuable form of teaching in residency, valued equally or greater to faculty-led sessions. While resident teaching has been shown to improve clinical performance, concern exists over this type of education encroaching on clinical duties. Our study seeks to determine whether a resident-led, speed-teaching hepatology curriculum leads to improvement in resident comfort with independent management and teaching of core hepatology topics. METHODS: PGY2&3 residents at an academic liver transplant center received teaching scripts based on published practice guidelines to lead 15-minute teaching sessions on 8 hepatology topics. The curriculum was given to interns and residents (4 per month) over 4 weeks. Anonymous pre- and post-rotation surveys assessing comfort with independent management and teaching on these topics were performed (Likert scale 1-5). Statistical analysis used independent sample T-tests of pre- and post-rotation survey responses. RESULTS: A total of 18 residents completed the pre- and post-intervention surveys (N = 11 PGY1, N = 7 PGY2/3). In the intervention cohort, there was significant improvement in comfort with independent management and teaching of all topics between the pre- and post-intervention surveys (all P < 0.05) (Table 1). Post-intervention respondents, including PGY1 and 2 residents, showed no difference in comfort with independent management of core topics compared to graduating PGY3s who did not have the intervention, with the exception of hyponatremia, which graduating residents felt more comfort managing (4.32 vs 3.56; P = 0.03). In addition, the post-intervention group felt more comfort than graduating residents teaching on hepatorenal syndrome (4.11 vs 3.38; P = 0.02) and trended towards increased comfort teaching on post-liver transplant complications (2.89 vs 2.08; P = 0.0502) (Table 1). CONCLUSION: Our study shows a near-peer resident-led speed-teaching hepatology curriculum is feasible to implement on a busy hepatology inpatient service and leads to improvement in comfort in independently managing and teaching on core hepatology topics. We also found a mixed resident group including PGY1-2s reported comfort with teaching and management similar to that of graduating residents, suggesting that our near-peer curriculum may lead to more rapid knowledge acquisition and trainee confidence with hepatology.