Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Boot Camp: A Preparatory Curriculum for Pediatric Residents

Abstract

IntroductionResident training has changed significantly in recent years, resulting in reduced experiences and practice. Because pediatric residents have fewer required intensive care unit (ICU) rotations, we introduced a neonatal ICU (NICU) boot camp (2014–2015) that continues today to prepare residents immediately prior to beginning an NICU rotation.MethodsThe NICU boot camp consists of three 1-hour sessions: two interactive lectures with case-based application and one hands-on, integrative learning using simulation. The sessions are designed to cover basic information to assist in daily rounding and decision making while in the NICU. After their NICU rotation, residents complete a 12-item questionnaire. Program evaluation includes direct observation during sessions, faculty debriefing, and a postprogram resident survey.ResultsFifty-seven residents participated; questionnaire responses were available from 46 (80.70%). Combined percentages of very useful and extremely useful responses for the three sessions were 82.61%, 78.26%, and 82.60%, with 86.95% for the overall program; 80.40% agreed that repeating boot camp prior to each NICU rotation would be useful. Analysis of narrative responses revealed that participation in boot camp enhanced residents' readiness and confidence for patient care in the NICU and as stated for each educational objective.DiscussionProgram evaluation results support highly effective and sustainable implementation and achievement of educational objectives. Minor refinements continue for enhancing active learning and content materials and for increasing rigor of program evaluation. Results also suggest that our boot camp may benefit other pediatric programs and serve as a model for use in other resident specialty programs.

Flattening the Learning Curve: A Case-Based Video Orientation for a Subspeciality Residency Rotation

“…These qualitative findings are in alignment with prior studies of clinically focused rotation orientations. 6,9 However, we describe a more feasible delivery method (e-learning) to address this problem as prior studies required substantial faculty participation to deliver content to each rotating resident *Total score and score on subtopics reflect mean percent correct. †Wilcoxon signed rank test employed for comparisons within the control and intervention groups, respectively.…”

“…8 Harel et al oriented residents to an adolescent medicine rotation by administering multiple choice questions and discussing answers while Surcouf et al developed a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit "boot camp" orientation consisting of live lectures and simulations. 6,9 While both interventions were well received by learners, faculty time was required to continuously deliver the information throughout the academic year prior to the start of each rotating resident. To reduce the burdensome nature of facultydirected learning, Sobolewski et al utilized e-learning videos to orient pediatric residents to an emergency medicine rotation.…”

Pediatric Resident Education in Pulmonary (PREP): A Subspecialty Preparatory Boot Camp Curriculum for Pediatric Residents

“…A high-yield educational boot camp enhanced readiness and confidence in pediatric residents transitioning to the neonatal intensive care unit at the Children's Hospital of New Orleans. 13 A review of published educational materials in PubMed and MedEdPORTAL yielded no citations related to improving resident knowledge in the care of the pediatric pulmonary patients or preparing residents to transition to the pediatric pulmonary unit.…”

Pivot and Persist: A Technical Report on Adapting an Existing Multi-Institutional Bootcamp to a Hybrid Platform

“…Bootcamps are frequently utilized to onboard medical trainees, providing foundational medical knowledge, procedural experience, teambuilding and networking [1]. Neonatal bootcamps have been used as preparation for neonatal intensive care rotations for pediatric residents and neonatal-perinatal medicine(NPM) fellows [2]. Simulation training is a fundamental component of these bootcamps that often include neonatal resuscitation and procedural training [3].…”