Effect of Case-Based Training for Medical Residents on Inpatient Glycemia

Abstract

OBJECTIVETo determine whether an educational intervention for medical house staff improves blood glucose (BG) in hospitalized patients.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSAll 116 medicine residents at an academic medical center were assigned to online or classroom training on inpatient dysglycemia in fall 2008. Both groups were offered an online refresher course in spring 2009 addressing gaps in clinical practice identified on chart review. We assessed event BG, the first BG of any 3-h period, on two teaching wards.RESULTSA total of 108 residents (93.1%) completed the initial training. The primary outcome, median event BG, decreased from 152 mg/dL in August 2008 to 139 mg/dL in December 2008 (P < 0.0001). Prevalence of event BG >200 mg/dL decreased from 25.5 to 22.7% (P = 0.0207), at the expense of more event BGs <70 mg/dL (2.0–3.9%, P = 0.0124).CONCLUSIONSA curriculum for medicine residents on inpatient glycemia led to lower inpatient BG.