Evaluation of case based simulation teaching to improve the Family Medicine residents urgent care management skills at a teaching hospital

Context:Simulation based teaching is effective strategy to allow trainees to acquire skills, develop clinical judgment and to become competent in order to manage the patients in a safe environment. The Case-based simulation improves the assessment and management skills of the trainees to prepare them as a competent physician. Aim:Evaluation of case based simulation teaching to improve the Family Medicine residents urgent care management skills at a teaching hospital. Setting and Design:An Interventional study (Pre and post design) was conducted on the residents of the Family Medicine department of the Aga Khan University hospital Karachi. Methodology:After getting their consent, pre intervention Objectively structured clinical examination (OSCE) was conducted at the Center for Innovation in medical education, AKUH. The scenarios were based on urgent care problems presenting in the Family Medicine setting. It was followed by the case based simulation teaching intervention by the facilitators and debriefing. The post intervention OSCE was conducted in order to assess the resident's performance. Statistical Analysis: The data was analyzed in Stata version15 software in two stages; descriptive and inferential. In descriptive analysis frequency and proportion were calculated for categorical variables. Median and inter quartile range were reported for continuous variable. Paired T-tests were applied to compare the pre and post test results. Results:The resident's scores significantly improved after case based simulation in majority of the post intervention OSCE stations proving the effectiveness of the intervention. Conclusion:Case based simulation is an effective teaching strategy for the learning process of the Family Medicine residents regarding the urgent care management skills. It is advised to use this strategy in the teaching and learning process of other Family medicine residency programs.