Teaching Practical Skills in Anesthesia, Intensive Care, Emergency and Pain Medicine—What Is Really Relevant for Medical Students? Results of a German National Survey of Nearly 3000 Anesthesiologists

Abstract

As a part of a major reform of the medical curriculum in Germany, the national catalogue of learning objectives is being revised with the focus shifting from theory-based learning to teaching practical skills. Therefore, we conducted an online survey to answer the question, which practical skills are essential in anesthesia. Participants were asked to rate the relevance of several skills, that medical students should be able to perform at the time of graduation. A total of 2898 questionnaires could be evaluated. The highest ratings were made for “bringing a patient into lateral recumbent position” and “diagnosing a cardiac arrest”. All learning objectives regarding regional anesthesia were rated as irrelevant. Furthermore, learning objectives like “performing a bronchoscopy” or “performing a rapid sequence induction” had low ratings. In the subgroup analysis, physicians with advanced training and those who were working at university hospitals rated most skills with higher relevance compared to others. Our survey provides a good prioritization of practical skills for the development of new curricula and assessment frameworks. The results can also help to establish our discipline as a cross-sectional subject in competency-based medical education, thus further increasing the attractiveness for medical students.

Anesthesia in medical school: A simulation-based curriculum proposal

“…(1) When included in the programs, the clerkships and topics addressed are highly heterogeneous, as it is commonly based on shadowing in the surgical environment and lectures. (2,3) This greatly limits the exposure of medical students to anesthesia, which affects the students' perceptions of the specialty, and may result in inadequate training of skills commonly performed by anesthesiologists.…”

“…(8,9) There is a need for orienting the anesthesiology clerkship during medical school towards a competency-based approach in a biosafe scenario that still ensures adequate learning of the basic skills and concepts of anesthesia, providing appropriate exposure to the specialty. (3,10) According to the competencybased approach, a simulation-based anesthesiology curriculum was developed compliant with the education and safety standards during the COVID-19 pandemic, since these methodologies could greatly reduce the probability of contagion by microorganisms. (11) Furthermore, this newly developed curriculum could also serve to strengthen the anesthesiology teaching and learning practices during medical school in the post-pandemic era.…”