Assessing Long-Term Skill Retention in Pre-Clerkship Medical Students Using Simulation Intravenous Catheter...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Skills Simulation
• Clinical Skills Training

Background:

• Preclinical medical students often lack hands-on skills like intravenous cannulation (IVC) until clerkship.
• Simulation-based training can enhance skill acquisition and retention in medical education.
• This study investigates the long-term impact of a preclinical IVC simulation session on student performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a single preclinical intravenous cannulation (IVC) skill session on skill retention.
• To assess the long-term effects of early simulation training on medical students' IVC performance.
• To determine if preclinical IVC simulation influences performance metrics during the transition to clerkship.

Main Methods:

• Prospective cohort study comparing a trained group (TG, n=42) with a control group (CG, n=50).
• Students performed IVC six months after the simulation session.
• Performance was assessed by blinded anesthesiologists using a validated checklist, with time to completion, successful cannulation, and number of attempts as outcomes.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found between groups in composite checklist scores, number of attempts, or successful cannulation.
• However, a subgroup analysis revealed that the trained group had a significantly shorter time to complete IVC (p=0.006).

Conclusions:

• A single preclinical IVC simulation session demonstrated a long-term impact on skill retention, specifically by reducing the time to completion.
• Early simulation training can be beneficial for developing and retaining essential clinical skills in medical students.
• Further research in clinical settings is recommended to validate the utility of preclinical simulation for IVC skills.