Situational On Call Survival (SOS) Guide - qualitative assessment of a novel peer induction initiative

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. BackgroundIn the UK there is a 6% increase in the mortality of emergency patients in the week following 'Black Wednesday'. On this day, there is an abrupt change in the dynamic of medical teams; medical students become Foundation Year 1 doctors (FY1s) and existing junior doctors step up a grade in seniority. Attempts have been made to develop induction initiatives to better prepare FY1 doctors for their new role.Methods FY1 focus groups noted a lack of dedicated teaching in existing induction programmes from the unique perspective of a FY1. To address this, the SOS Guide was developed; a one day course, created and taught exclusively by FY1s for FY1s. The course has been delivered five times, in four hospitals, over two consecutive years to 175 FY1 doctors. Cascade teaching was employed to recruit and support tutor teams of FY1s to create their own hospital specific SOS Guide. All attendees completed pre/post-course questionnaires.ResultsQualitative questionnaire feedback demonstrated high satisfaction and a significant average increase of 26.8% (95% CI:2.25-3.11, p=<0.0001) in the average confidence levels of FY1 attendees.ConclusionThis innovative initiative should continue to be developed in order to maximise benefits to FY1s; students and teachers alike.