Educating Anesthesiologists During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic and Beyond.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has altered approaches to anesthesiology education by shifting educational paradigms. This vision article discusses pre-COVID-19 educational methodologies and best evidence, adaptations required under COVID-19, and evidence for these modifications, and suggests future directions for anesthesiology education. Learning management systems provide structure to online learning. They have been increasingly utilized to improve access to didactic materials asynchronously. Despite some historic reservations, the pandemic has necessitated a rapid uptake across programs. Commercially available systems offer a wide range of peer-reviewed curricular options. The flipped classroom promotes learning foundational knowledge before teaching sessions with a focus on application during structured didactics. There is growing evidence that this approach is preferred by learners and may increase knowledge gain. The flipped classroom works well with learning management systems to disseminate focused preclass work. Care must be taken to keep virtual sessions interactive. Simulation, already used in anesthesiology, has been critical in preparation for the care of COVID-19 patients. Multidisciplinary, in situ simulations allow for rapid dissemination of new team workflows. Physical distancing and reduced availability of providers have required more sessions. Early pandemic decreases in operating volumes have allowed for this; future planning will have to incorporate smaller groups, sanitizing of equipment, and attention to use of personal protective equipment. Effective technical skills training requires instruction to mastery levels, use of deliberate practice, and high-quality feedback. Reduced sizes of skill-training workshops and approaches for feedback that are not in-person will be required. Mock oral and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) allow for training and assessment of competencies often not addressed otherwise. They provide formative and summative data and objective measurements of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) milestones. They also allow for preparation for the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) APPLIED examination. Adaptations to teleconferencing or videoconferencing can allow for continued use. Benefits of teaching in this new era include enhanced availability of asynchronous learning and opportunities to apply universal, expert-driven curricula. Burdens include decreased social interactions and potential need for an increased amount of smaller, live sessions. Acquiring learning management systems and holding more frequent simulation and skills sessions with fewer learners may increase cost. With the increasing dependency on multimedia and technology support for teaching and learning, one important focus of educational research is on the development and evaluation of strategies that reduce extraneous processing and manage essential and generative processing in virtual learning environments. Collaboration to identify and implement best practices has the potential to improve education for all learners.

Learners and Luddites in the Twenty-first Century: Bringing Evidence-based Education to Anesthesiology.

Anesthesiologists are both teachers and learners and alternate between these roles throughout their careers. However, few anesthesiologists have formal training in the methodologies and theories of education. Many anesthesiology educators often teach as they were taught and may not be taking advantage of current evidence in education to guide and optimize the way they teach and learn. This review describes the most up-to-date evidence in education for teaching knowledge, procedural skills, and professionalism. Methods such as active learning, spaced learning, interleaving, retrieval practice, e-learning, experiential learning, and the use of cognitive aids will be described. We made an effort to illustrate the best available evidence supporting educational practices while recognizing the inherent challenges in medical education research. Similar to implementing evidence in clinical practice in an attempt to improve patient outcomes, implementing an evidence-based approach to anesthesiology education may improve learning outcomes.

A Descriptive Survey of Anesthesiology Residency Simulation Programs: How Are Programs Preparing Residents for the New American Board of Anesthesiology APPLIED Certification Examination?

BACKGROUND: Anesthesiology residency programs may need new simulation-based programs to prepare residents for the new Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) component of the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) Primary Certification process. The design of such programs may require significant resources, including faculty time, expertise, and funding, as are currently needed for structured oral examination (SOE) preparation. This survey analyzed the current state of US-based anesthesiology residency programs regarding simulation-based educational programming for SOE and OSCE preparation. METHODS: An online survey was distributed to every anesthesiology residency program director in the United States. The survey included 15 to 46 questions, depending on each respondent's answers. The survey queried current practices and future plans regarding resident preparation specifically for the ABA APPLIED examination, with emphasis on the OSCE. Descriptive statistics were summarized. χ and Fisher exact tests were used to test the differences in proportions across groups. Spearman rank correlation was used to examine the association between ordinal variables. RESULTS: The responding 66 programs (49%) were a representative sample of all anesthesiology residencies (N = 136) in terms of geographical location (χ P = .58). There was a low response rate from small programs that have 12 or fewer clinical anesthesia residents. Ninety-one percent (95% confidence interval [CI], 84%-95%) of responders agreed that it is the responsibility of the program to specifically prepare residents for primary certification, and most agreed that it is important to practice SOEs (94%; 95% CI, 88%-97%) and OSCEs (89%; 95% CI, 83%-94%). While 100% of respondents reported providing mock SOEs, only 31% (95% CI, 24%-40%) of respondents provided mock OSCE experiences. Of those without an OSCE program, 75% (95% CI, 64%-83%) reported plans to start one. The most common reasons for not having an OSCE program already in place, and the perceived challenges for implementing an OSCE program, were the same: lack of time (faculty and residents), expertise in OSCE development and assessment, and funding. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide data from residency programs for benchmarking their simulation curriculum and ABA APPLIED Examination preparation offerings. Despite agreement that residency programs should prepare residents for the ABA APPLIED Examination, many programs have yet to implement an OSCE preparation program, in part due to lack of financial resources, faculty expertise, and time. Additionally, in contrast to the SOE, the OSCE is a new format for ABA primary certification. As a result, the lack of consensus concerning preparation needs could be related to the amount information that is available regarding the examination content and assessment process.

Platelet Counts and Postoperative Stroke After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Declining platelet counts may reveal platelet activation and aggregation in a postoperative prothrombotic state. Therefore, we hypothesized that nadir platelet counts after on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery are associated with stroke. METHODS: We evaluated 6130 adult CABG surgery patients. Postoperative platelet counts were evaluated as continuous and categorical (mild versus moderate to severe) predictors of stroke. Extended Cox proportional hazard regression analysis with a time-varying covariate for daily minimum postoperative platelet count assessed the association of day-to-day variations in postoperative platelet count with time to stroke. Competing risks proportional hazard regression models examined associations between day-to-day variations in postoperative platelet counts with timing of stroke (early: 0-1 days; delayed: ≥2 days). RESULTS: Median (interquartile range) postoperative nadir platelet counts were 123.0 (98.0-155.0) × 10/L. The incidences of postoperative stroke were 1.09%, 1.50%, and 3.02% for platelet counts >150 × 10/L, 100 to 150 × 10/L, and <100 × 10/L, respectively. The risk for stroke increased by 12% on a given postoperative day for every 30 × 10/L decrease in platelet counts (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.24; P= .0255). On a given day, patients with moderate to severe thrombocytopenia were almost twice as likely to develop stroke (adjusted HR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.13-3.16; P= .0155) as patients with nadir platelet counts >150 × 10/L. Importantly, such thrombocytopenia, defined as a time-varying covariate, was significantly associated with delayed (≥2 days after surgery; adjusted HR, 2.83; 95% CI, 1.48-5.41; P= .0017) but not early postoperative stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest an independent association between moderate to severe postoperative thrombocytopenia and postoperative stroke, and timing of stroke after CABG surgery.

A systematic review of the effectiveness of flipped classrooms in medical education.

CONTEXT: There are inconsistent claims made about the effectiveness of the flipped classroom (FC) in medical education; however, the quality of the empirical evidence used to back up these claims is not evident. The aims of this review are to examine the scope and quality of studies on the FC teaching approach in medical education and to assess the effects of FCs on medical learning. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using the major electronic databases in 2016. Peer-reviewed papers were screened and reviewed according to explicit inclusion criteria. The scope and quality of all resultant studies were evaluated. Studies identified as using controlled designs were further synthesised to assess the effects of FCs on learning. RESULTS: A total of 118 articles were obtained. Full texts of 82 articles were reviewed. Nine of the included 46 articles used a controlled design when examining the effects of the FC. There were generally positive perceptions of the FC approach. However, the effects of FCs on changes in knowledge and skills were less conclusive as the effect sizes ranged from d = -0.27 to 1.21, with a median of 0.08. The varying direction and magnitude of the effect sizes, together with their 95% confidence interval, which contained zero, suggested the lack of strong evidence for the effectiveness of FCs in promoting knowledge acquisition above and beyond the traditional learning methods. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a recent increase of research rigor and variety in measures of effectiveness in studies on the FC in medical education. The FC is a promising teaching approach to increase learners' motivation and engagement. More solid evidence on its effect on changes in knowledge and skills are warranted. Further studies should also examine the long-term effects of FCs with regard to knowledge retention and transfer of knowledge to professional practice and patient care.

Simulator training enhances resident performance in transesophageal echocardiography.

BACKGROUND: Standardized training via simulation as an educational adjunct may lead to a more rapid and complete skill achievement. The authors hypothesized that simulation training will also enhance performance in transesophageal echocardiography image acquisition among anesthesia residents. METHODS: A total of 42 clinical anesthesia residents were randomized to one of two groups: a control group, which received traditional didactic training, and a simulator group, whose training used a transesophageal echocardiography-mannequin simulator. Each participating resident was directed to obtain 10 commonly used standard views on an anesthetized patient under attending supervision. Each of the 10 selected echocardiographic views were evaluated on a grading scale of 0 to 10, according to predetermined criteria. The effect of the intervention was assessed by using a linear mixed model implemented in SAS 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). RESULTS: Residents in the simulation group obtained significantly higher-quality images with a mean total image quality score of 83 (95% CI, 74 to 92) versus the control group score of 67 (95% CI, 58 to 76); P = 0.016. On average, 71% (95% CI, 58 to 85) of images acquired by each resident in the simulator group were acceptable for clinical use compared with 48% (95% CI, 35 to 62) in the control; P = 0.021. Additionally, the mean difference in score between training groups was the greatest for the clinical anesthesia-1 residents (difference 24; P = 0.031; n = 7 per group) and for those with no previous transesophageal echocardiography experience (difference 26; P = 0.005; simulator n = 13; control n = 11). CONCLUSION: Simulation-based transesophageal echocardiography education enhances image acquisition skills in anesthesiology residents.

Unprofessionalism in anesthesiology: A qualitative study on classifying unprofessional behavior in anesthesiology residency education.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify the domains that constitute behaviors perceived to be unprofessional in anesthesiology residency training programs. DESIGN: Qualitative study. SETTING: Anesthesiology residency training programs. PATIENTS: Not applicable. The participants involved residents, fellows, and faculty members purposefully sampled in four US-based anesthesiology residency programs. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were asked to submit examples of unprofessional behavior they witnessed in anesthesiology residents, fellows, or faculty members via a Qualtrics link. MEASUREMENTS: Not applicable. The behavior examples were independently reviewed and categorized into themes using content analysis. MAIN RESULTS: A total of 116 vignettes were collected, resulting in a final list of 111 vignettes after excluding those that did not describe behavior exhibited by anesthesiology faculty or trainees. Fifty-eight vignettes pertained to unprofessional behaviors observed in faculty members and 53 were observed in trainees (residents and fellows). Nine unprofessionalism themes emerged in the analysis. The most common themes were VERBAL, SUPERVISION, QUALITY, ENGAGEMENT, and TIME. As to the distribution of role group (faculty versus trainee) by theme, unprofessional behaviors falling into the categories of BIAS, GOSSIP, LEWD, and VERBAL were observed more in faculty; whereas themes with unprofessional behavior primarily attributed to trainees included ENGAGEMENT, QUALITY, TIME, and SUPERVISION. CONCLUSION: By reviewing reported professionalism-related vignettes within residency training programs, we identified classification descriptors for defining unprofessional behavior specific to anesthesiology residency education. Findings from this study enrich the definition of professionalism as a multi-dimensional competency pertaining to anesthesiology graduate medical education. This framework may facilitate preventative intervention and timely remediation plans for unprofessional behavior in residents and faculty.

No Miracles in Two Minutes: A Randomized Controlled Study on the Impact of Preparatory Expansive Posing on Anesthesiology Residents' Performance in Mock Structured Oral Examinations.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of engaging in preparatory expansive posing on the performance of anesthesiology trainees during a mock structured oral examination. Methods: A total of 38 clinical residents at a single institution participated in this prospective randomized controlled study. Participants were stratified by clinical anesthesia year and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 orientation rooms to prepare for the examination. The preparatory expansive posing participants stood for 2 minutes with their hands and arms above their heads and with their feet approximately 1 ft apart. Conversely, the control participants sat quietly in a chair for 2 minutes. All participants then received the same orientation and examination. Faculty evaluation of resident performance, residents' self-assessment of performance, and anxiety score were collected. Results: There was no evidence to support our primary hypothesis that residents who engaged in preparatory expansive posing for 2 minutes prior to a mock structured oral examination would score higher than their control counterparts (P = .68). There was no evidence to support our secondary hypotheses that preparatory expansive posing increases self-assessment of one's performance (P = .31) or reduces perceived anxiety during a mock structured oral examination (P = .85). Conclusions: Preparatory expansive posing did not improve anesthesiology residents' mock structured oral examination performance or self-assessment of their performance, nor did it reduce their perceived anxiety. Preparatory expansive posing is likely not a useful technique in improving the performance of residents in structured oral examinations.

Family Anesthesia Experience: Improving Social Support of Residents Through Education of Their Family and Friends.

Introduction: The prevalence of burnout among anesthesiology residents is 41%-51%. Burnout is associated with medical errors, physician turnover, and substance use disorder. Social support and wellness may reduce burnout, but a barrier is support persons' lack of understanding of an anesthesiologist's work demands. We developed the Family Anesthesia Experience (FAX) to help support persons best support their resident. Methods: FAX consisted of a 4-hour event with hands-on experience, didactics portion, and panel discussion. Participants learned about a typical day in the life of an anesthesiology resident, wellness, burnout, substance use disorder, and available support resources, and had hands-on experience with procedures. The panel discussion offered logistical information about anesthesiology residency and allowed support persons to ask panel members questions. A postevent survey collected feedback on the event. Results: Fifty-one participants (first-year anesthesiology residents and their support persons) attended the event. Eight of 11 residents (73%) and 32 of 40 support persons (80%) completed the survey. All enjoyed the event, would recommend it to other anesthesiology resident support persons, and felt the event would improve communication and support. Most learned a moderate (35%) to large amount (50%) from the event. Qualitative feedback suggested most support persons found the event helpful in improving their understanding of anesthesiology residents' work demands. Discussion: The FAX was well liked by participants. Although we did not assess specific knowledge gained and long-term effects of the 2022 event, evaluations of previous years' events suggest that the event improved participants' understanding of anesthesiology residents' work and stressors.

A Multi-Site Survey Study on the Association Between the COVID-19 Pandemic and United States Anesthesiology Residents' Mental Health.

BACKGROUND:  At the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, anesthesiology residency programs were impacted differently due to various factors such as the local severity of COVID-19, exposure to patient suffering, and inability to complete rotations. We sought to investigate the impact of local-level pandemic severity on the well-being of anesthesiology residents. METHODS:  This multi-site study surveyed postgraduate year two residents from 15 United States (US) anesthesiology programs using the Perceived Stress Scale, Mini-Z, Patient Health Questionnaire-9,WHO-5 Well-Being Index,and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support before the pandemic (baseline survey) and during the first COVID-19 surge (post survey). RESULTS:  A total of 144 (65%) residents responded to the initial baseline survey; 73 (33%) responded to the post survey, and 49 (22%) completed both surveys. There was not a statistically significant difference in any well-being outcomes of participants between the surveys, nor was there a significant difference based on the severity of COVID-19 impact at the program's hospital. Male participants had higher perceived stress scores (ß = 4.05, 95%CI: 0.42, 7.67, P = 0.03) and lower social support from family (ß = -6.57, 95%CI: -11.64, -1.51, P = 0.01) at the post survey compared to female participants after controlling for baseline scores. Additionally, married participants or those with domestic partners reported higher perceived social support in the post survey (ß = 5.79, 95%CI: -0.65, 12.23, P = 0.03). CONCLUSION:  The local COVID-19 severity at a residency program did not disproportionately impact well-being scores among anesthesiology residents. Those most vulnerable to diminished well-being appeared to be male and single participants. As a result, targeted well-being interventions, including those aiming to increase social support, to higher-risk resident groups may be indicated. Future work is needed to assess the longstanding COVID-19 pandemic impacts on resident well-being.

A Perspective on Wellness in Anesthesiology Residency Programs: A Multi-Strategy Approach.

Addressing resident wellness is an important topic given the high risk for burnout and depression in resident physicians compared with the general U.S. population. This article provides an overview of various approaches to help conceptualize and intervene on resident wellness, based on the 9-strategies framework to improve wellness laid out by Shanafelt and colleagues. This article outlines the most relevant literature in each strategy followed by the authors' experience within their anesthesiology residency program.

Reinvigorating an Academy of Medical Educators Using Ecological Systems Theory.

The educational framework of communities of practice postulates that early learners join medical communities as social networks that provide a common identity, role modeling and mentorship, and experiential learning. While being elected into a medical society is an honor, member engagement in these groups can falter if the society membership is seen as an honorific rather than one requiring continuing participation. As an example, Academies of Medical Educators have been established by many academic medical centers to encourage collaboration, skill development, professional identity formation, and scholarship. The University of North Carolina established the Academy of Educators in 2006 to create a diverse community of educators to promote the scholarship, teaching skills, and professional identity of educators. Despite rapid growth to over 500 members, we had less than 30 participants at events over the 2017-2018 academic year. To increase member engagement and participation, our academy leadership team used Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory to design interventions at each layer of environmental influence, specifically at the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem levels. In this paper, we describe the multipronged approach used to increase the University of North Carolina Academy of Medical Educators event attendance from 30 to 1,000 faculty participants over the course of one academic year (2018-2019). This paper provides a model as to how medical societies can use ecological systems theory as a natural and comprehensive approach to plan and improve their member engagement and experience.

Defining and Addressing Anesthesiology Needs in Simulation-based Medical Education.

Background: This study's primary aim was to determine how training programs use simulation-based medical education (SBME), because SBME is linked to superior clinical performance. Methods: An anonymous 10-question survey was distributed to anesthesiology residency program directors across the United States. The survey aimed to assess where and how SBME takes place, which resources are available, frequency of and barriers to its use, and perceived utility of a dedicated departmental education laboratory. Results: The survey response rate was 30.4% (45/148). SBME typically occurred at shared on-campus laboratories, with residents typically participating in SBME 1 to 4 times per year. Frequently practiced skills included airway management, trauma scenarios, nontechnical skills, and ultrasound techniques (all ≥ 77.8%). Frequently cited logistical barriers to simulation laboratory use included COVID-19 precautions (75.6%), scheduling (57.8%), and lack of trainers (48.9%). Several respondents also acknowledged financial barriers. Most respondents believed a dedicated departmental education laboratory would be a useful or very useful resource (77.8%). Conclusion: SBME is a widely incorporated activity but may be impeded by barriers that our survey helped identify. Barriers can be addressed by departmental education laboratories. We discuss how such laboratories increase capabilities to support structured SBME events and how costs can be offset. Other academic departments may also benefit from establishing such laboratories.