Abstract
Office Laboratory procedures are an important aspect of primary care. Effective laboratory skills programs are difficult to implement during residency training. Selected components of a previously reported, successful curriculum in laboratory medicine were implemented in two residencies (SA & OK). To determine which components of the curriculum were necessary for success, a prospective comparison of acquisition of knowledge & skills between these residents was completed.
Residents in SA (N=8) & OK (N=16) had the same video-taped lectures, standardized test-teach sessions & the option to use a small office lab in their continuity clinic. In SA the lab was staffed by a technician who provided teaching, service & coordinated a 1 month laboratory rotation. Based on a blindly scored 51 item cognitive written and 50 item lab performance exam, residents in SA & OK showed marked deficits at the start of the PL-1 year in microbiology, hematology & quality control.
Using covariate analysis to adjust for differences in pretest scores, SA PL-2's received higher scores on all written subtests with significant differences in 6/10 areas (p=.01 to .002). In only 3 of 8 skill subtests did both groups improve. Scores decreased for both groups in 3 subtests. Only in the performance of white cell counts were SA scores significantly (p.007) improved over OK. Thus, (the availability of) an on site lab technician enhanced resident cognitive learning but did not improve performance skills.
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Murphy, M., Kittredge, D., Ltttlefield, J. et al. 782 RESIDENT LABORATORY CURRICULUM. Pediatr Res 19, 241 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-00812
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-00812
