FUNDAMENTALS OF ANESTHESIOLOGY: A MEDICAL STUDENT EDUCATION CURRICULUM

Sai Pentyala

PURPOSE AND GOALS: To create modules consisting of lectures, simulation sessions, interactive sessions with a simplified outline that can be implemented to teach fourth year medical students rotating within an Anesthesia department.

To refine the content of the modules based on feedback from medical students to optimize the level and depth of content targetted for this student population.

METHODS: A clinical rotation in Anesthesiology provides tremendous value to any medical student; the core physiological and pharmacological principles that underlie the practice of anesthesia are ubiquitous to all fields of medicine. Attendings, fellows and residents are tasked with the challenge of teaching fourth year medical students, while simultaneously performing their own clinical responsibilities. Although medical students are encouraged to attend resident lectures, these didactics are often beyond the scope of a medical student. At our mid-sized residency program, three Education Chairs are responsible for creating and organizing all resident lectures. Additionally, this year our department felt it important to involve residents in the evaluation and education of fourth year medical students. In the process of organizing away rotators’ education material, a clear deficit in the fourth year medical student curricula became apparent with no standardized information regarding expectations of medical knowledge, clinical principles, and procedural techniques.

EVALUATION PLAN: We argue that a medical student-based anesthesia curriculum would provide a wealth of clinical and academic knowledge, regardless of the specialty the student chooses to pursue, leading to a more comprehensive medical student education. We designed eight modules consisting of core Anesthesiology principles. These modules are to be utilized by medical student coordinators (residents/ fellows/attendings) to engage with medical students on core principles, particularly those that are not covered by existing medical student rotations and curricula. These modules can be incorporated as bedside teaching series, a table discussion of clinical scenarios, or even as simulation sessions.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS: We hope to regularly implement these education didactics and obtain feedback from medical students regarding their utility to further hone in on an optimum depth and breadth of anesthesia curricula for medical students.

REFLECTIVE CRITIQUE: To complete the second goal of this curriculum, we hope to obtain IRB approval to obtain feedback from the medical students that receive this modules to assess their effectiveness, titrate curricular content for this medical student population, and gauge whether their understanding of the field of Anesthesia is improved.