Simulated Crisis in Obstetric Anesthesia: Design and Evaluation of a Distance Education Presentation

Patient simulators are useful tools for training residents and all levels of medical personnel. Simulator usefulness, in small group sessions, is limited by the costs of training large numbers of people. We present an interrupted methodology designed to involve a large group at a location remote from the simulator. The goal was to enable the remote participants to take part in decision making while under time pressure. Two volunteers were chosen as hands-on participants while eighteen remaining anesthesiology residents observed from a lecture room via a closed circuit audio/video feed. A series of five crises in obstetric anesthesia was presented. After each crisis the simulation was paused and the observers were given three minutes to formulate a differential diagnosis and plan to be carried out. At the end of the session facilitators led a debriefing session with all participants. Surveys completed after the simulation indicated that most residents felt personally involved in the simulation, despite being physically removed from it. Surveys also showed that residents believed they learned more from this format than they would have from a lecture. Residents recalled an average of 3.4 crises two days after the session. This paper presents a model for distance education using a simulator and shows that residents believed remote, interrupted, interactive simulator training is valuable. The interrupted nature and involvement of remotely located peers differentiate this methodology from a passive viewing of a remote session. Further study is warranted to quantify the effectiveness of group and/or distance training with a simulator.