American journal of surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A computer-based trauma simulator for teaching trauma management skills.
The management of multiply injured trauma patients is a skill requiring broad knowledge, sound judgment, and leadership capabilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-based trauma simulator as a teaching tool for senior medical students. ⋯ There is a significant benefit associated with a focused, clinically based trauma management course for senior medical students. No additional improvement was noted with the use of a high fidelity computer-based trauma simulator.
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Comparative Study
Markov cohort simulation study reveals evidence for sex-based risk difference in intensive care unit patients.
Despite great advances in intensive care medicine, sepsis still is the leading cause of death. Different strategies have been developed to file the patient data into scoring systems, primarily to predict the outcome. The Markov simulation-predominantly used in economic science to describe chains of events depending on and influencing each other-seems to be an interesting and new approach in analyzing the course of disease of critically ill patients in an intensive care unit (ICU). Using such a Markov model, this study analyzes data from 660 surgical ICU patients, 44 of whom died of sepsis. ⋯ The findings of this study fit into the current discussion that female patients are better positioned to meet the challenge of sepsis.
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Two complimentary examinations designed to comprehensively assess competence for surgical practice have been developed. The Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skill (OSATS) evaluates a resident's operative skill, and the Patient Assessment and Management Examination (PAME) evaluates clinical management skills. ⋯ This comprehensive examination is a reliable and valid method of assessing critical skills in senior surgical residents and may be useful for the formal assessment of readiness for practice.
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To develop a model introducing medical students (MS) to the continuing medical education (CME) process while simultaneously developing a curriculum to enhance the relevant surgical anatomy knowledge base of the advanced prehospital care provider. ⋯ This model provided prehospital care providers direct contact with clinically relevant human anatomy, enhanced their understanding of pertinent anatomy, and positively impacted their patient care. MS were introduced to the CME process and found it to be one with which they would become reinvolved. Furthermore, the MS felt prepared to present human anatomy, met the expectations of the course attendees, improved their understanding of prehospital education, and positively altered their perception of the surgeon as an educator. This process holds promise as both a model for prehospital education and as a tool for integrating MS into the role of allied health educator early in their career.