Purpose or Case Report: Simulation-based education allows for experiential learning to practice and reinforce the CanMEDS roles¹ (as medical expert, communicator and collaborator) in the management of rare events such as medical emergencies in Pediatric Radiology and situations related to patient safety (such as disclosure of adverse events and discussions related to consent). Our objective was to create a simulation workshop to address these education gaps and to determine feasibility, acceptance and educational value as perceived by the participants.
Methods & Materials: The Quality Management Department approved this project. All pediatric radiology trainees who recently started in the general division were invited to participate. The workshop consisted of six time-based stations to address these situations: initial management of anaphylaxis, delivery of basic life support skills, handover of care, safe injection of contrast agents, informed consent, disclosure of adverse events, and triage of cases including selection of protocols for imaging. Checklists were used for scoring. Each trainee received brief personalized feedback at each station. A group debrief and facilitated teaching concluded the workshop. A mixed method approach was used for evaluation including a questionnaire on satisfaction, a one-minute paper² and group discussions on perceptions and lessons learned.
Results: Five trainees and five facilitators participated in the workshop. Most trainees ranked “strongly agree” or “agree” on a 5-point Likert scale on questions on satisfaction. They had variable comfort level and experience with the topics covered and simulation-based education. The workshop was considered “pertinent”, “really good”, “it was…an eye opener…good to get feedback” and more than once different stations were stated as “the most useful station and helpful” and “they were fair”. Additional comments included “it was easy because it was a simulation, but real life… would be different” with “different comfort level”.
Conclusions: This time-based simulation workshop was resource-intensive but it covered multiple intrinsic roles that are difficult to teach in daily clinical practice. This novel type of teaching and learning was acceptable to our Pediatric Radiology trainees. It was useful to practice by reinforcing the management of medical emergencies and patient safety concerns. It encouraged reflection of their own learning and revealed education gaps. The format may also contribute to the future development of a competency-based curriculum.