Improving residents' understanding of issues, comfort levels, and patient needs regarding screening for and diagnosing Down syndrome

Abstract

This study assessed obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics residents' knowledge about Down syndrome (DS) and their comfort in delivering a prenatal or postnatal diagnosis of DS before and after interaction with a web-based tutorial. A team of physicians, parents, and educational specialists developed an interactive tutorial that asked resident physicians to provide their own responses to "virtual patient" cases related to DS diagnoses in utero and at birth. We tested resident knowledge and comfort-level changes and their satisfaction with the web-based tool. The study yielded significant improvement in knowledge and level of comfort changes with both obstetrics and gynecology and pediatric resident physicians at 16 programs nationally. There were no significant differences between the 2 specialties. This interactive tutorial is effective in improving physicians' knowledge of and comfort level with imparting accurate, balanced information about DS pre- and postnatally.