• F Rubulotta, A Gullo, G Iapichino, A Pezzi, J Bion, H Barret, and CoBaTrICE Italian Collaborative.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Hospital Polyclinic, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. frubulotta@hotmail.com
• Minerva Anestesiol. 2009 Mar 1;75(3):117-24.

BackgroundThe aim of the Competency-Based Training in Intensive Care Medicine in Europe (CoBaTrICE) project is to create an internationally acceptable competency-based training program for specialists in intensive care medicine. The CoBaTrICE Project has performed a survey, in collaboration with the Picker institute, United Kingdom, to identify desirable characteristics of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) specialists, as expressed by patients and their relatives.MethodsA questionnaire was developed to assess 21 elements of professional competence. Each element was assigned to one of four categories of a Likert scale: 1=essential; 2=very important; 3=not too important; 4=does not matter. The results were dichotomized into essential (score: 1) and not essential (scores: 2-4) categories. Further, the documents were related to three key concepts: "medical skills and competencies", "communication with patients", and "communication with relatives". Questionnaire statements grouped by theme were also ranked for each item using a number: 1=highest rank; 21=lowest rank. Free text responses were also invited.ResultsTen Italian ICUS were enrolled in the study. There were 249 questionnaires completed (18% total return rate).ConclusionPriority in Italy was given to medical skills and competence. Involvement of patients and relatives in decision-making processes were among the items considered least important. Italian families preferred a paternalist approach to the end of life decision-making process.

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