Demonstration of Acquisition of Trauma Management Skills by Senior Medical Students Completing the ATLS Program

Abstract

To assess the teaching effectiveness of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Program among senior medical students.

We used objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and multiple choice question (MCQ) testing to assess 40 senior medical students (20 ATLS and 20 non-ATLS) at the University of Toronto. Pre- and post-ATLS, all students had four 15-minute OSCE stations and a 40-item MCQ test. The pre- and post-ATLS performance for the ATLS and non-ATLS groups were compared.

Cronbach's reliability coefficients were 0.81 and 0.93 for the pre- and post-ATLS OSCEs. The mean (+/- SD) OSCE scores at the four pre-ATLS OSCE stations were 7.6 +/- 2.8, 7.4 +/- 2.3, 8.3 +/- 2.7, and 10.5 +/- 3.4 for the ATLS group and 6.5 +/- 2.1, 7.0 +/- 2.2, 7.6 +/- 2.5, and 9.6 +/- 3.1 for the non-ATLS group (p = NS). Post-ATLS scores for the four OSCE stations were: 15.5 +/- 1.6, 14.1 +/- 3.2, 12.3 +/- 2.9, and 18.3 +/- 1.0 (ATLS group) and 7.9 +/- 3.5, 6.3 +/- 2.8, 7.6 +/- 2.3, and 10.9 +/- 3.3 (non-ATLS group: p < 0.01). Pre-ATLS MCQ scores were 49 +/- 9 and 52 +/- 8% for the ATLS and non-ATLS groups respectively; the ATLS group increased MCQ scores to 83 +/- 5% and the non-ATLS group did not change (53 +/- 8%). Pre-ATLS scores for adherence to priorities were: 35 +/- 14% (ATLS) and 29 +/- 13% (non-ATLS: p = NS). Post-ATLS scores were 99 +/- 6% (ATLS) and 29 +/- 19% (non-ATLS: p < 0.01). The pre-ATLS organized approach to trauma ratings (range 1 to 5) were: 1.9 +/- 1.5 (ATLS) and 1.6 +/- 0.5 (non-ATLS: p = NS) compared to post-ATLS grades of 4.6 +/- 0.4 (ATLS) and 1.7 +/- 0.5 (non-ATLS: p < 0.01). All 20 students passed the ATLS course.

Using highly reliable trauma OSCE stations we have demonstrated trauma management skills acquisition by senior medical students after the ATLS course.