Enhancing emergency medical education and training: Performance under pressure

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Occupational Health
• Psychology

Background:

• Emergency physicians experience significant daily stress and high-pressure working conditions.
• Professional skill development is crucial for emergency physicians to manage these challenges.
• Workshops offering practical stress-management techniques for emergency physicians are scarce.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a blended-learning workshop designed to improve stress management skills for emergency physicians.
• To assess the applicability and benefit of learned stress-coping techniques in clinical practice.

Main Methods:

• A 10-hour, 1.5-day blended-learning workshop was conducted.
• Twenty-five emergency physicians participated, including those from anesthesia, trauma surgery, general surgery, and radiology.
• Pre- and post-workshop surveys assessed participants' experiences with psychological pressure and stress management.

Main Results:

• All participants reported experiencing high psychological pressure in their work.
• Participants indicated that improved stress-coping abilities could enhance their performance.
• Post-workshop surveys showed participants felt they benefited from the techniques and could apply them clinically.

Conclusions:

• The blended-learning workshop effectively equipped emergency physicians with stress-coping techniques.
• Participants reported successful application of learned skills in clinical practice.
• This teaching format shows promise for managing emergency physician stress and improving well-being.