scholarly journals Methodology for quantitative assessment of combat casualty care

SIMULATION ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-295
Author(s):  
Michael A. Xynidis ◽  
Brian F. Goldiez ◽  
Jack E. Norfleet ◽  
Nina Rothstein

Evaluating proficiency in simulation-based combat casualty training includes the assessment of hands-on training with mannequins through instructor observation. The evaluation process is error-prone due to high student–instructor ratios as well as the subjective nature of the evaluation process. Other logistical inconsistencies, such as the short amount of time to observe individual student performance, can lessen training effectiveness as well. The simulation-based methodology described in this article addresses these challenges by way of quantitative assessment of training effectiveness in combat casualty training. The methodology discusses adaptation of Lempel–Ziv (LZ) complexity indexing to quantify psychomotor activity that is otherwise only subjectively estimated by an instructor. LZ indexing has been successfully used to assess proficiency in related studies of simulation-based training conducted by Bann et al. at the Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine in London, and more recently by Watson at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This type of analysis has been applied to using simulation as a tool to assess not only mastery of a task, but as a method to assess whether a particular simulator and training approach actually works. Data have been gathered from nearly 100 military combat medic trainees at Joint Base Lewis McChord Medical Simulation Training Center. Participant hand-acceleration data from an emergency surgical cricothyrotomy reveals a statistically significant difference in ability between expertise levels. The higher the LZ scores and self-reported expertise level, the better the participant performed. The results show that when presented with demographic and video performance-based data, it is possible to gauge experience by applying LZ scoring to motion data. The methodology provides an objective measure that complements the subjective component of simulation-based cricothyrotomy training assessments. Further study is needed to determine whether this methodology would provide similar assessment advantages in other medical training in which speed and accuracy would be significant factors in determining procedural expertise.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 238212052110424
Author(s):  
Brittany J Daulton ◽  
Laura Romito ◽  
Zach Weber ◽  
Jennifer Burba ◽  
Rami A Ahmed

There are a very limited number of instruments to assess individual performance in simulation-based interprofessional education (IPE). The purpose of this study was to apply the Simulation-Based Interprofessional Teamwork Assessment Tool (SITAT) to the individualized assessment of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing students (N = 94) in a team-based IPE simulation, as well as to explore potential differences between disciplines, and calculate reliability estimates for utilization of the tool. Results of an analysis of variance provided evidence that there was no statistically significant difference among professions on overall competency ( F(2, 91)  =  0.756, P  = .472). The competency reports for nursing ( M = 3.06, SD = 0.45), medicine ( M = 3.19, SD = 0.42), and pharmacy ( M = 3.08, SD = 0.49) students were comparable across professions. Cronbach's alpha provided a reliability estimate of the tool, with evidence of high internal consistency ( α = .92). The interrater reliability of the SITAT was also investigated. There was moderate absolute agreement across the 3 faculty raters using the 2-way mixed model design and “average” unit (kappa = 0.536, P = .000, 95% CI [0.34, 0.68]). The novel SITAT demonstrates internal consistency and interrater reliability when used for evaluation of individual performance during IPE simulation. The SITAT provides value in the education and evaluation of individual students engaged in IPE curriculum.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Michael Franc ◽  
Darren Nichols ◽  
Sandy L. Dong

AbstractIntroduction: Disaster Medicine is an increasingly important part of medicine. Emergency Medicine residency programs have very high curriculum commitments, and adding Disaster Medicine training to this busy schedule can be difficult. Development of a short Disaster Medicine curriculum that is effective and enjoyable for the participants may be a valuable addition to Emergency Medicine residency training.Methods: A simulation-based curriculum was developed. The curriculum included four group exercises in which the participants developed a disaster plan for a simulated hospital. This was followed by a disaster simulation using the Disastermed.Ca Emergency Disaster Simulator computer software Version 3.5.2 (Disastermed.Ca, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) and the disaster plan developed by the participants. Progress was assessed by a pre- and post-test, resident evaluations, faculty evaluation of Command and Control, and markers obtained from the Disastermed.Ca software.Results: Twenty-five residents agreed to partake in the training curriculum. Seventeen completed the simulation. There was no statistically significant difference in pre- and post-test scores. Residents indicated that they felt the curriculum had been useful, and judged it to be preferable to a didactic curriculum. In addition, the residents’ confidence in their ability to manage a disaster increased on both a personal and and a departmental level.Conclusions: A simulation-based model of Disaster Medicine training, requiring approximately eight hours of classroom time, was judged by Emergency Medicine residents to be a valuable component of their medical training, and increased their confidence in personal and departmental disaster management capabilities.


Author(s):  
James P. Bliss ◽  
Beth M. Hartzler ◽  
Jennifer Winner ◽  
Douglas Hodge

As with civilian medicine, the Military Health System relies on medical manikins to supplement didactic training. Analyses of transfer-of-training and the calibration between self-efficacy (SE) and competence offer a robust look at training effectiveness; however, the logistics of collecting these data are complex. Self-reported SE is commonly used as a starting point to look at training effectiveness, and prior research has used it to compare didactic against simulation-based training options. Military medical training courses, however, often combine didactic and experiential (simulation-based) training. Little or no work has documented how SE is differentially affected in courses using both training approaches. Results reported here represent SE data from enlisted medical technicians completing pre-deployment readiness training. These data illustrate that SE gained through didactic training was maintained throughout the simulation training. We discuss possible reasons why this sample did not demonstrate further significant gains following simulation and we identify challenges associated with the study of individual constructs such as SE in the context of team-based training environments.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Alden

The use of team projects has been shown to be beneficial in higher education. There is also general agreement that team efforts should be assessed and that the grading ought to represent both (1) the quality of the product developed jointly by the team as well as (2) the degree of participation and quality of contribution by each individual student involved in the group process. The latter grading requirement has posed a challenge to faculty so the question addressed in this paper is “How should individual team members in online courses be assessed for the extent and quality of their contributions to the group project?” To answer this question, four common team member evaluation practices were reviewed and compared to seven criteria representing positive attributes of an assessment practice in an online learning environment. Whereas the Peer Assessment practice received the greatest support in the literature in face-to-face courses, this study that considered the perceptions of graduate faculty and students recommended the Faculty Review practice as the default assessment


2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Hubble ◽  
Michael E. Richards

AbstractIntroduction:Colleges and universities are experiencing increasing demand for online courses in many healthcare disciplines, including emergency medical services (EMS). Development and implementation of online paramedic courses with the quality of education experienced in the traditional classroom setting is essential in order to maintain the integrity of the educational process. Currently, there is conflicting evidence of whether a significant difference exists in student performance between online and traditional nursing and allied health courses. However, there are no published investigations of the effectiveness of online learning by paramedic students.Hypothesis:Performance of paramedic students enrolled in an online, undergraduate, research methods course is equivalent to the performance of students enrolled in the same course provided in a traditional, classroom environment.Methods:Academic performance, learning styles, and course satisfaction surveys were compared between two groups of students. The course content was identical for both courses and taught by the same instructor during the same semester. The primary difference between the traditional course and the online course was the method of lecture delivery. Lectures for the on-campus students were provided live in a traditional classroom setting using PowerPoint slides. Lectures for the online students were provided using the same PowerPoint slides with prerecorded streaming audio and video.Results:A convenience sample of 23 online and 10 traditional students participated in this study. With the exception of two learning domains, the two groups of students exhibited similar learning styles as assessed using the Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Style Scales instrument. The online students scored significantly lower in the competitive and dependent dimensions than did the on-campus students. Academic performance was similar between the two groups. The online students devoted slightly more time to the course than did the campus students, although this difference did not reach statistical significance. In general, the online students believed the online audio lectures were more effective than the traditional live lectures.Conclusion:Distance learning technology appears to be an effective mechanism for extending didactic paramedic education off-campus, and may be beneficial particularly to areas that lack paramedic training programs or adequate numbers of qualified instructors.


1974 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-366
Author(s):  
Eugene Jongsma

A random sample of passages was drawn from standardized reading comprehension tests for fourth grade students. The number and types of language patterns found in the test passages were determined through a method of linguistic analysis. The patterns identified on the tests did not reflect the patterns used most frequently in the oral language of fourth grade children. When the test passages were rewritten using a larger percentage of high frequency oral language patterns, and administered to comparable groups of students, no significant difference in comprehension performance was observed between those students taking the revised test and those taking the intact standardized test passages.


Neurosurgery ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Heinen ◽  
Patrick Dömer ◽  
Thomas Schmidt ◽  
Bettina Kewitz ◽  
Ulrike Janssen-Bienhold ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Clinical and electrophysiological assessments prevail in evaluation of traumatic nerve lesions and their regeneration following nerve surgery in humans. Recently, high-resolution neurosonography (HRNS) and magnetic resonance neurography have gained significant importance in peripheral nerve imaging. The use of the grey-scale-based “fascicular ratio” (FR) was established using both modalities allowing for quantitative assessment. OBJECTIVE To find out whether FR using HRNS can assess nerve trauma and structural reorganization in correlation to postoperative clinical development. METHODS Retrospectively, 16 patients with operated traumatic peripheral nerve lesions were included. The control group consisted of 6 healthy volunteers. All imaging was performed with a 15 to 6 MHz ultrasound probe (SonoSite X-Porte; Fujifilm, Tokyo, Japan). FR was calculated using Fiji (兠) on 8-bit-images (“MaxEntropy” using “Auto-Threshold” plug-in). RESULTS Thirteen of 16 patients required autologous nerve grafting and 3 of 16 extra-intraneural neurolysis. There was no statistical difference between the FR of nonaffected patients’ nerve portion with 43.48% and controls with FR 48.12%. The neuromatous nerve portion in grafted patients differed significantly with 85.05%. Postoperatively, FR values returned to normal with a mean of 39.33%. In the neurolyzed patients, FR in the affected portion was 78.54%. After neurolysis, FR returned to healthy values (50.79%). Ten of 16 patients showed clinical reinnervation. CONCLUSION To our best knowledge, this is the first description of FR using HRNS for quantitative assessment of nerve damage and postoperative structural reorganization. Our results show a significant difference in healthy vs lesioned nerves and a change in recovering nerve portions towards a more “physiological” ratio. Further evaluation in larger patient groups is required.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Katie Sheats ◽  
Megan J. Burke ◽  
James B. Robertson ◽  
Katherine E. Fiebrandt ◽  
Callie A. Fogle

Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are units of activity that early-stage professionals perform in the workplace that necessitate simultaneous integration of multiple competencies. EPA #6 requires students to perform a common surgical procedure on a stable patient, including pre-operative and post-operative management. Castration is one of the most common surgeries performed by equine primary care practitioners and is considered an “entry-level competency” for veterinary graduates entering equine private practice, however, to our knowledge there are no equine castration models available for veterinary student education. Therefore, we developed an inexpensive, low-fidelity model of equine field castration and evaluated it using a mixed-methods approach. Two different groups of students, with or without model experience, completed surveys before and after live horse castration. Students who used the model also completed model specific surveys. Videos of the students completing the model were evaluated by at least two different equine veterinary faculty using a 15-point rubric, and inter-rater reliability of the rubric was determined. After completing the model, students reflected on strengths and weaknesses of their performance. From our student survey results, we determined that student attitudes toward the model were mostly positive. Interestingly, there were several student attitudes toward the model that became significantly more favorable after live horse castration. Prior to live horse castration, there was no significant difference in confidence in model vs. no-model groups. Following live horse castration, students who used the model had higher confidence in procedure preparation and hand-ties than students who did not use the model, but they had lower scores for confidence during patient recovery. When reflecting on model castration, students most commonly cited preparation and surgical description as strengths, and ligature placement and hand-ties as weaknesses. Experts provided several suggestions to improve the model, including incorporation of emasculators and the need for better model stabilization. Our findings suggest that both students and veterinary educators feel that this low-fidelity model has educational value. Rubric performance metrics were favorable, but additional steps are needed to improve grading consistency among educators. Future research will determine whether student performance on the model is predictive of competence score during live-horse castration.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reem Alshareef ◽  
Abdullah Al Zahrani ◽  
Meshari Alzhrani ◽  
Abdulaziz Suwaidi ◽  
Bander Alamry

Abstract Background: The novel COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a significant burden on healthcare systems. Similarly, it has also affected the performance and well-being of the medical staff working during the pandemic. However, to what extent COVID-19 is affecting medical staff is still unclear, especially among physicians.Objective: This study aims to evaluate the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the medical training and psychological well-being of resident doctors practicing in the western region in Saudi Arabia.Patients and Methods: This is a quantitative cross-sectional study that included a survey distributed to residents physicians working in the western region in Saudi Arabia. The survey included questions on demographic data and factors influencing the academic training, attitude, and daily habits of the residents during the pandemic. Psychological impact was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Data analysis was executed using IBM SPSS version 26. Results: A total of 121 residents responded to this survey. Of all respondents, 71.1% were junior residents, 66.9% had a medical specialty; and 33% were family medicine doctors, followed by 17% from general surgery. In regards to work amid the pandemic, 36.1% were in contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients, and 35.5% had to work overtime during the pandemic. Of the respondents, 44% described their training as extremely affected, and 32% strongly agreed and 53% agreed that their psychological well-being was negatively affected. Further, 39.6% were smoking more than they used to. Female and junior residents’ training was significantly more negatively affected than their peers’ (p=0.039 and 0.011, respectively). There was a non-significant difference detected between the residents regarding the factors negatively affecting their psychological well-being. Conclusion: Residents working during the pandemic in the western area of Saudi Arabia were significantly affected by the pandemic from both professional and psychological perspectives. Further research on how the pandemic is affecting doctors in other areas in Saudi Arabia is needed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 192
Author(s):  
Eboatu, V. N. ◽  
Igboka, Doris Oluchukwu

Academic achievement of students does not depend only on school, environmental factors and teacher characteristics, but also on the level of home involvement. This study therefore sought to establish the extent of parental school involvement for students’ improved academic achievement in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The descriptive survey design was used for this study, with six (6) research questions guiding the study. The population for the study comprised 417 public secondary school teachers from which a sample of 125 teachers using simple random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a researcher designed, structured questionnaire which was duly validated by experts in educational management and measurement and evaluation. The questionnaire was tested for reliability using test-retest method. The tool for correlation was the Pearson Product Moment Correlation and this yielded a co-efficient of 0.82. Data collected was analysed using mean and standard deviation statistics to answer the 6 research questions while ANOVA with Friedman’s Test was used to test for significant difference in the six indices of parental involvement. The findings show among others that teachers perceive that parents in Awka South Local Government Area effectively communicate with school and coach their children for improved academic achievement to a moderate extent. There was no significant difference in the teacher’s perception of parental involvement based on the six indices of involvement. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended among others, that parents and the school use social media and other devices to communicate more effectively with the school for improved students’ academic performance.


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