Common Complications of Sickle Cell Disease: A Simulation-Based Curriculum

Sickle cell disease (SCD), the most common autosomal recessive genetic disorder worldwide, affects nearly every organ of the body and results in accelerated mortality. Nationally, internal medicine physicians lack a complete understanding of morbidity and mortality in this population leading to health care disparities.

We created a 2-hour curriculum consisting of three SCD case vignettes representing common disease complications (acute stroke, acute chest syndrome, and septic shock) with the goal to increase medicine house staff knowledge and confidence in patient management. Residents completed a pretest to assess baseline knowledge and were divided into groups of four to five. Three simulation cases were completed by each group; learners needed to work through a differential diagnosis and describe key management steps. Each group was graded on achieving the 10 critical actions for each case. Following each case, there was a faculty-led debriefing session. Residents repeated the pretest 30 days after completion of the curriculum (posttest).

Thirty-six second year internal medicine residents participated in this curriculum. After completing this curriculum, residents improved their test score from 33% (SD = 12%) to 57% (SD = 18%) (p < .0001). Additionally, self-reported confidence in management scores increased from 2.6 (SD = 0.8) in the pretest to 3.5 (SD = 0.4) in the posttest (p = .02) on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not very confident, 5 = very confident).

Use of a simulation curriculum increased knowledge and confidence of internal medicine residents in the management of critical illness in patients with SCD.