Abstract
ABSTRACTIn order to better prepare the medical, graduate and undergraduate students participating in our international medical mission trip to Nicaragua, we prepared and presented a discussion on Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) prior to the international experience. Additionally, a clinical simulation experience was incorporated into our pre-departure training to instruct the students on basic clinical skills, medical interviewing and teamwork. As a tool to measure the students’ prior knowledge on the topic of ORT, we designed a questionnaire, which was distributed and collected prior to the training and simulation experience. Finally, one day after the ORT training and simulation experience, we distributed the same questionnaire and collected the results in order to measure the efficacy of the training and simulation on the students’ perspective of confidence, as well as the students’ retention of the information and skills taught. Our study population consisted of 9 first-year medical students, 1 graduate student, and 16 pre-medical students, all of whom participated in all aspects of the study. In the pre-training survey, only five of the students indicated that they could confidently and effectively explain or administer ORT to someone else. After collecting the results from the post-training survey, all of the students indicated that they could confidently and effectively explain or administer ORT to someone else. We concluded that the ORT training and clinical simulation experience, wherein students could actively apply the knowledge they gained on the administration of ORT to patients, are effective tools to aid in the preparation of medical, graduate and undergraduate students by way of increasing students’ level of confidence in the subject material prior to embarking on international medical mission trips.
Highlights
Many pre-medical, medical and graduate students in the biomedical sciences share great enthusiasm for participating in international medical humanitarian work prior to beginning any significant formal medical training, in direct patient care for specific critical conditions, such as severe dehydration [1]
We have conducted a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of clinical didactic training and simulation instruction in Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) to increase students’ level of confidence to perform tasks in preparation for an international medical mission trip to Nicaragua
A clinical simulation experience was incorporated into our pre-departure training to instruct the students on basic clinical skills, medical interviewing and teamwork
Summary
Many pre-medical, medical and graduate students in the biomedical sciences share great enthusiasm for participating in international medical humanitarian work prior to beginning any significant formal medical training, in direct patient care for specific critical conditions, such as severe dehydration [1]. We have conducted a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of clinical didactic training and simulation instruction in Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) to increase students’ level of confidence to perform tasks in preparation for an international medical mission trip to Nicaragua. A clinical simulation experience was incorporated into our pre-departure training to instruct the students on basic clinical skills, medical interviewing and teamwork. Our main objectives in conducting this study were to prepare pre-medical, medical and graduate students for direct patient interaction in the mission trip to Nicaragua and to define potential areas of improvement for future didactic and simulation training of medical humanitarian workers, as well as to assess students’ confidence in their ability to perform clinical tasks in the context of ORT, following an interactive didactic training that included a simulation exercise
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