Program directors' perceptions of importance of pediatric procedural skills and resident preparedness.

Zia Bismilla,Harish J Amin,Adam Dubrowski

doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1499-8

Abstract

BackgroundThe Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) objectives for training in pediatrics include 26 procedural skills, 11 of which are included in the final in-training evaluation report (FITER). The importance of each procedure for practice and the preparedness of pediatric residency graduates to perform these procedures are not known.MethodsA questionnaire was distributed to all pediatric residency program directors and members of the RCPSC Specialty Committee in Pediatrics (N = 21) in October 2010, requesting them to rate the perceived importance and preparedness of graduating pediatric residents in all procedural skills on a 5 point Likert scale, as well as the presence of a curriculum and documentation for each procedure. Mean importance and preparedness were calculated for each procedure.ResultsResponse rate was 16/21 (76 %). Perceived preparedness was significantly lower than importance for the majority of procedures (p < 0.05). Ten procedures had a high mean importance rating (>3) but a low mean preparedness rating (<3). Presence of a curriculum and documentation for procedures varied across centers, and their presence was correlated with both perceived importance and preparedness (p < 0.0001).ConclusionsMany procedures in which pediatric residents are required to be competent by the RCPSC are felt to be important. Residents are not felt to be adequately prepared in several of the required procedures by the time of graduation. Procedures with high ratings of importance but low preparedness ratings should be targeted for curricular interventions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1499-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) objectives for training in pediatrics include 26 procedural skills, 11 of which are included in the final in-training evaluation report (FITER)
Importance We found a variation in the rated importance of the skills required of pediatric residents by the RCPSC. 12 skills had a mean importance rating greater than 4, 17 skills had a rating between 3 and 4 and 3 had a rating
Those skills included in the FITER were spread out across the spectrum of perceived importance, and were not necessarily those felt to be most important by respondents. 11/26 (42 %) of procedures had a mean rating ≥4, of which 9 were included in the FITER (Fig. 1). 7/26 (27 %) of procedures included in the FITER failed to achieve a mean rating of ≥4, including IV

Summary

Introduction

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) objectives for training in pediatrics include 26 procedural skills, 11 of which are included in the final in-training evaluation report (FITER). For all Canadian programs, at the end of residency training, a final in-training evaluation report (FITER) is completed by the program director (PD), which includes 11 procedural skills that must be formally checked off to document procedural competency. The list of skills required of pediatric residents includes several skills in the area of acute care pediatrics, as well as in other areas such as administration of immunizations, curettage of the ear and bedside glucose measurement. These less acute skills have not been well studied, and their relative importance to pediatric practice is less well delineated

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