Evaluating “ED STAT!”: A Novel and Effective Faculty Development Program to Improve Emergency Department Teaching

Abstract

Effective clinical teaching in emergency departments (EDs) presents unique challenges. No validated approaches to enhancing ED teaching have been reported. The authors evaluated the effectiveness of a novel one-day evidence-based, skills-oriented faculty development course tailored to ED teachers (ED STAT!). The authors invited all inaugural course registrants to participate in this program evaluation study. The authors assessed participants' knowledge change and perceived change in teaching behavior using a multiple-choice and short-answer question examination, a teaching behaviors questionnaire, and a survey for satisfaction. Data were gathered before, immediately after, and one month after the course. Mean scores were compared using the Wilcoxon signed rank test, and qualitative results were analyzed via a grounded theory approach. Thirty-one individuals from a variety of academic and community EDs completed the May 2005 course; 28 participated in the pre-evaluation and postevaluation, and 22 participated in the one-month postevaluation. Multiple-choice scores increased from pre-evaluation to one-month postcourse by 15.1% (p < 0.001, effect size large: d = 1.53). Short-answer scores increased by 17.2% (p = 0.001, effect size large: d = 0.90). After one month, 55% of participants reported an increased amount of teaching, 86% perceived this teaching to be of a greater quality, and 82% had shared new strategies with colleagues. The course would be recommended to a colleague by 96.3% of respondents. ED STAT! improves participants' knowledge about ED-specific teaching strategies, and this improvement is maintained at one month. Participants reported high satisfaction and a positive effect on teaching behavior.