Quantifying Medical Resident Perceptions Regarding the Utility of High‐fidelity Patient Simulation using Q‐methodology

Abstract

High‐fidelity patient simulation (HFPS) combines sophisticated patient manikins and realistic, immersive environments to safely train physicians at an early stage of their medical careers. However, little is known about the distinct patterns of medical resident perceptions who experienced HFPS during their undergraduate medical education (UME). Q‐methodology obtains first‐person, qualitative viewpoints from participants about a specific topic of interest using a quantitative inverted factor procedure and was used to answer the research question: How do medical residents perceive the utility of, and satisfaction with, HFPS experienced during their UME? Since Q‐methodology is an exploratory, systematic research technique that does not attempt to hypothesize existing relationships, a priori hypotheses were not developed for this research question. Graduates were sampled from Indiana University Bloomington School of Medicine (IUSM‐B) classes of 2015, 2016, and 2017 because HFPS was integrated into their UME. Of the 58 medical residents contacted, 12 were recruited for this study. The residents were asked to electronically sort 37 validated statements relative to each other into a bipolar, inverted quasi‐normal distribution based on their subjective opinions. Two open‐ended questions at the end of the sorting procedure allowed participants to elaborate on their choice of the highest and lowest ranked statements. The final solution consisted of three factors, one unipolar factor (Factor 1) and one bipolar factor (Factor 2a and Factor 2b), that explained 45% of the total variance in the data, with eleven participants (91.7%) mapping onto one of the three factors. Seven residents were grouped into Factor 1 and were labeled ‘Practical Skeptics' given their pattern of finding value in the pragmatic relevance of HFPS, but had difficulty suspending their disbelief of the simulated patient manikin. Three residents were clustered into Factor 2a characterized as ‘Simulation Enthusiasts' and demonstrated a pattern of embracing the HFPS experience, could suspend their disbelief, and found value in interprofessional education simulations with nursing students. Factor 2b included one resident described as an ‘Anxious Supporter’ because this individual embraced the use of HFPS but captured the stress and anxiety that some feel while participating in simulations that was not seen with the other two factors. This study discovered three distinct perceptions regarding HFPS among residents who attended IUSM‐B and may aid in tailoring HFPS strategies to more fully meet the needs and expectations of future physicians.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.