Critical care education during internal medicine residency: a national survey

Current training practices and teaching methods for critical care medicine education during internal medicine residency have not been well described. This study explored critical care medicine education practices and environments for internal medicine residents in the United States.

A web-based survey recruited Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellowship program directors involved with internal medicine residency programs at academic institutions in the United States.

Of 127 accredited Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine programs in 2007, 63 (50%) responded. Demographics of the intensive care units varied widely in size (7-52 beds), monthly admissions (25-300 patients), and presence of a "night float" (22%) or an admissions "cap" (34%). All programs used bedside teaching, and the majority used informal sessions (91%) or didactic lectures (75%). More time was spent on resident teaching in larger (≥20 bed) medical intensive care units, on weekdays, in programs with a night-float system, and in programs that suspended residents' primary care clinic duties during their intensive care unit rotation.

Although similar teaching methods were used within a wide range of training environments, there is no standardized approach to critical care medicine education for internal medicine residents. Some survey responses indicated a correlation with additional teaching time.