Pediatric-Oncology Simulation Training for Resident Education

We sought to evaluate pediatric oncology simulations intended to improve pediatric residents' skills and comfort in caring for children with cancer.

In a non-randomized trial, controls (the first three rotations) received a standard set of lectures, and the intervention arm received these lectures plus five simulation-training scenarios-fever/neutropenia, a new leukemia diagnosis, end-of-life care discussion, tumor lysis syndrome, and a mediastinal mass. All residents were tested after the rotation on the first three scenarios; management skills were evaluated independently by two raters. Before and after training, all residents completed an emotional-appraisal questionnaire evaluating each scenario as a perceived challenge or threat. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) measured differences by study arm in skills-checklist assessments and appraisals; repeated-measures ANOVA measured changes in emotional-appraisal scores.

Forty-two residents (9 control, 33 intervention) participated. Inter-rater agreement for skills-checklist scores using average-measures intraclass correlation was high (0.847), and overall mean scores were significantly higher for the intervention than control group across both raters (P = 0.005). For all residents, perceived challenge increased in the end-of-life simulation, and perceived threat decreased in all three test scenarios. The intervention group, regardless of training year, evaluated the teaching scenarios favorably and felt that challenging oncology situations were addressed, skills were enhanced, and the simulations should be offered to other residents.

It was feasible to introduce residents to difficult pediatric oncology scenarios using simulation. The intervention group performed more skills than controls when tested, and perceive threat declined in all residents after their pediatric oncology rotation.