Basic life support skills training in a first year medical curriculum: six years' experience with two cognitive-constructivist designs.

Full Abstract

RATIONALE:
Although the Basic Life Support (BLS) ability of a medical student is a crucial competence, poor BLS training programs have been documented worldwide. Better training designs are needed. This study aims to share detailed descriptions and the test results of two cognitive-constructivist training models for the BLS skills in the first year of medical curriculum.

METHOD:
A BLS skills training module was implemented in the first year curriculum in the course of 6 years (1997-2003). The content was derived from the European Resuscitation Council Guidelines. Initially, a competence-based model was used and was upgraded to a cognitive apprenticeship model in 2000. The main performance-content type that was expected at the end of the course was:
competent application of BLS procedures on manikins and peers at an OSCE as well as 60% achievement in a test consisting of 25 MCQ items. A retrospective cohort survey design using exam results and a self-completed anonymous student ratings' questionnaire were used in order to test models.

RESULTS:
Training time for individual students varied from 21 to 29 hours. One thousand seven hundred and sixty students were trained. Fail rates were very low (1.0-2.2%). The students were highly satisfied with the module during the 6 years.

CONCLUSION:
In the first year of the medical curriculum, a competence-based or cognitive apprenticeship model using cognitive-constructivist designs of skills training with 9 hours theoretical and 12-20 hours long practical sessions took place in groups of 12-17 students; medical students reached a degree of competence to sufficiently perform BLS skills on the manikins and their peers. The cognitive-constructivist designs for skills training are associated with high student satisfaction. However, the lack of controls limits the extrapolation of this conclusion.

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Author information

Author/s: Durak, Halil Ibrahim (HI); Certug, Agah (A); Caliskan, Ayhan (A); van Dalen, Jan (J);

Affiliation: Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Turkey. halil.ibrahim.durak(-atsign-)ege.edu.tr

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Evaluation Studies; Journal Article

Journal: Medical teacher (Med Teach), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Mar; vol 28 (issue 2) : pp e49-58

Dates: Created 2006/05/18; Completed 2006/08/01;

PMID: 16707285, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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