Comparison of Two Simulated Procedural Assessment Formats in Attending Emergency Physicians

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Emergency Medicine
• Procedural Skills Assessment

Background:

• Emergency physicians require proficiency in central venous catheter insertion and lumbar puncture.
• Post-residency procedural skill assessment is infrequent.
• Current board certification relies on verbal procedural descriptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare simulated task trainer versus verbal description for assessing procedural skills.
• To evaluate skill range in central venous catheter insertion and lumbar puncture among emergency attending physicians.

Main Methods:

• Prospective cohort study involving 17 emergency attending physicians.
• Assessment of simulated internal jugular central venous catheter insertion and lumbar puncture on a task trainer versus verbal description.
• Use of expert raters and published checklists for skill evaluation.

Main Results:

• Higher correct checklist item performance on task trainers for central line (78.4%) and lumbar puncture (85.57%) compared to verbal assessment (68.26% and 73.53%, respectively).
• Significant differences (p < 0.001) favoring the task trainer.
• 82% of participants preferred the task trainer format.

Conclusions:

• Simulated procedural assessment techniques may offer benefits over current verbal methods.
• Higher scores on simulated formats suggest potential for improved skill evaluation.
• Further research is needed to correlate objective checklist scores with subjective expert assessments.