Self-Debriefing vs Instructor Debriefing in a Pre-Internship Simulation Curriculum: Night on Call

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Simulation-Based Education
• Teamwork Training

Background:

• Traditional facilitator-led debriefing (F-DB) is a cornerstone of simulation-based education (SBE).
• Exploring alternative debriefing methods like self-debriefing (S-DB) is crucial for scalability and efficiency in medical training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare learner self-performance assessment (SPA) and team-performance assessment (TPA) between S-DB and F-DB in SBE.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of S-DB as an alternative to F-DB for internship preparation.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-seven learners participated in SBE using the "One-Night-On-Call" curriculum, randomized into F-DB or S-DB teams.
• Participants completed SPA and TPA questionnaires after the first and final acute care scenarios.
• Statistical analysis compared SPA and TPA scores between the two debriefing groups.

Main Results:

• Overall learner SPA and TPA scores improved significantly from the first to the final scenario (P <.05).
• No significant difference was found in overall SPA scores between F-DB and S-DB cohorts.
• The S-DB cohort demonstrated significantly higher average TPA scores (14.1) compared to the F-DB cohort (12.8) (P =.001).

Conclusions:

• Self-debriefing (S-DB) is an effective strategy, yielding comparable learner self-assessment to facilitator-led debriefing (F-DB).
• S-DB may be superior for enhancing team performance assessment in simulation-based teamwork training.
• S-DB offers a scalable solution by potentially reducing faculty requirements in SBE.