Impact of educational instruction on medical student performance in simulation patient.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effects, and timing of, a video educational intervention on medical student performance in manikin-based simulation patient encounters. Methods: This prospective mixed-methods study was conducted as part of the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences undergraduate medical curriculum. One hundred sixty-six students second-year students participated in two simulations on a single day in September 2021. A 7-minute video intervention outlining the clinical diagnostic approach to pulmonary complaints was implemented. Students were randomized into 32 groups which were divided into two cohorts. One received the video prior to simulation-1 (n=83) and the other between simulation-1 and simulation-2 (n=83). Each simulation was recorded and assessed using a 44-point standardized checklist. Comparative analysis to determine differences in performance scores was performed using independent t-tests and paired t-tests. Results: Independent t-tests revealed the video-prior cohort performed better in simulation-1 (t(30)= 2.27, p= .03), however in simulation-2 no significant difference was observed between the cohorts. Paired t-test analysis revealed the video-between cohort had significant improvement from simulation-1 to simulation-2 (t(15)= 3.06, p = .01); no significant difference was found for the video-prior cohort. Less prompting was seen in simulation-2 among both the video-prior (t(15)= -2.83, p= .01) and video-between cohorts (t(15)= -2.18, p= .04). Conclusions: Simulation training, and targeted educational interventions, facilitate medical students to become clinically competent practitioners. Our findings indicate that guided video instruction advances students' clinical performance greater than learning through simulation alone. To confirm these findings, similar investigations in other clinical training exercises should be considered.

Spontaneous vaginal delivery.

Vaginal delivery is a natural process that usually does not require significant medical intervention. Management guided by current knowledge of the relevant screening tests and normal labor process can greatly increase the probability of an uncomplicated delivery and postpartum course. All women should be screened for group B streptococcus; women who test positive should be treated with antibiotics during labor. Routine human immunodeficiency virus screening of all pregnant women, and treatment with antiretroviral medication for those who test positive, can reduce perinatal transmission of the infection. Once a woman is in labor, management should focus on the goal of delivering a healthy newborn while minimizing discomfort and complications for the mother. In a patient who tests negative for group B streptococcus, delaying admission to the labor ward until she is in active labor decreases the number of possible medical interventions during labor and delivery. Once a patient has been admitted to the hospital, providing her with continuous emotional support can improve delivery outcomes and the birthing experience. Epidural analgesia is effective for pain control and should not be discontinued late in labor to reduce the need for operative vaginal delivery. Epidurals prolong labor, but do not increase the risk of cesarean delivery. Research has shown that labor may not progress as rapidly as historically reported; this should be considered before intervening for dystocia. Routine episiotomy increases morbidity and should be abandoned. Once the infant has been delivered, active management of the third stage of labor decreases the risk of postpartum hemorrhage.