Development and validation of the Anaesthetic Theatre Educational Environment Measure (ATEEM)

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anaesthesiology
• Surgical Training

Background:

• The quality of the educational environment is crucial for effective anaesthesia training.
• Existing tools may not fully capture the nuances of the theatre setting for anaesthetic trainees.
• Standardized assessment is needed to evaluate and improve surgical training environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Anaesthetic Trainee Theatre Educational Environment Measure (ATEEM).
• To assess the perceptions of anaesthetic trainees regarding their theatre educational environment.
• To determine the utility of the ATEEM in identifying specific areas for environmental improvement.

Main Methods:

• Development of the ATEEM using established methodologies for educational environment assessment.
• Administration of the ATEEM to a cohort of 271 anaesthetic trainees.
• Analysis of response data from 218 trainees (80% response rate).

Main Results:

• Trainees' perceptions of their theatre educational environments demonstrated significant variation.
• The ATEEM successfully identified specific problem areas within the educational environment.
• The data indicated the inventory's capability to guide targeted remediation efforts.

Conclusions:

• The ATEEM is a viable tool for measuring the educational environment in anaesthetic training.
• The ATEEM can effectively pinpoint areas needing improvement in theatre-based learning.
• Findings support the use of the ATEEM for enhancing the quality of anaesthesia training programs.