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Teaching paediatric basic life support in medical schools using peer teaching or video demonstration: A prospective randomised trial
Author(s) -
Stephan Frederik,
Groetschel Hanjo,
Büscher Anja K,
Serdar Deniz,
Groes Kjell A,
Büscher Rainer
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.13937
Subject(s) - medicine , basic life support , curriculum , tutor , medical education , peer group , teaching method , peer support , cardiopulmonary resuscitation , randomized controlled trial , resuscitation , emergency medicine , pediatrics , nursing , mathematics education , psychology , pedagogy , developmental psychology
Aim The outcome of children with an out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest is still poor, but bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation can increase survival and minimise severe neurological sequelae. While teaching basic life support is standardised in emergency medicine classes, paediatric basic life support (PBLS) in neonates and toddlers is under‐represented in paediatric curricula during university education. The appropriate mixture of E‐learning and peer teaching lessons remains controversial in teaching paediatric basic skills. However, an increasing number of medical schools and paediatric classes switch their curricula to much cheaper and less tutor‐dependent E‐learning modules. We hypothesise that a peer teaching lesson is superior to a PBLS video demonstration with co‐extensive contents and improves knowledge, skills and adherence to resuscitation guidelines. Methods Eighty‐eight medical students were randomly assigned to a video PBLS lesson ( n = 44) or a peer teaching group ( n = 44). An objective structured clinical examination was performed immediately after the class and at the end of the semester. Results Students taught by a peer teacher performed significantly better immediately after the initial course and at the end of the semester when compared to the video‐trained group ( P = 0.008 and P = 0.003, respectively). In addition, a borderline regression analysis also revealed a better resuscitation performance of students instructed in the peer teaching group. Conclusions In our setting, peer teaching is superior and more sustainable than a co‐extensive video demonstration alone when teaching PBLS to medical students. However, additional studies with combinations of different teaching methods are necessary to evaluate long‐term outcomes.