Anesthesia Residents Preferentially Request Operating Room Case Assignments with Complex Cases.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anesthesiology
• Decision Support Systems

Background:

• Self-directed learning (SDL) is crucial for medical residents, enhancing knowledge, performance, and critical appraisal skills.
• Anesthesiology residents require diverse case experiences to foster independent learning and skill development.
• Existing systems may not adequately support resident-driven case selection for optimal learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a decision support system (DSS) to facilitate self-directed learning for anesthesia residents.
• To assess whether residents utilize the DSS to request complex cases.
• To determine if resident experience level correlates with the complexity of requested cases.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, observational study involving 101 anesthesiology residents.
• Implementation of a web-based interface, RHINOS (Residents Helping in Navigating Operating Room Scheduling), for residents to submit preferences.
• Case complexity was quantified using metrics such as number of cases per OR, anesthesia base units, time units, and proportion of inpatient cases.

Main Results:

• Residents consistently requested operating room assignments with fewer cases but higher anesthesia base units and time units, indicating a preference for complexity.
• A greater proportion of requested cases involved inpatient preoperative evaluations, further suggesting a pursuit of complex scenarios.
• More advanced residents demonstrated a stronger preference for complex and educational cases compared to junior residents.

Conclusions:

• The developed decision support system effectively enabled anesthesia residents to request more complex cases, supporting self-directed learning.
• Resident experience level is a significant factor in case complexity preference, with senior residents actively seeking more challenging educational opportunities.
• This system has the potential to enhance resident training by aligning case assignments with learning objectives and resident-driven educational goals.