Factors Affecting Learning Essential Procedural Skills in Pediatric Residents: A Cross-sectional Study

Clinical education is a vital component of physician education, where medical students learn by attending to patients and applying their knowledge and reasoning to solve their problems. However, many medical students struggle to acquire procedural skills, the ultimate goal of clinical education. Procedural skills are expected to be learned by the residents according to their academic year and are essential for providing better health services to children and families.

This study evaluates the status of the training provided and the level of learning the necessary procedural skills in pediatric residents based on standards.

This research was a descriptive cross-sectional method from 1998 to 99. In the first part of the researcher-made questionnaire, the implementation of the educational program on all pediatric residents (115) of Mofid Children's Hospital was evaluated. In the second part, the residents' views on the current state of their learning of essential procedural skills were determined.

All residents from years one to four participated in the study. After assessing the status of skills acquired by residents with a questionnaire and comparing the average of each skill acquisition procedure with the desired standards, the average of all skills in all three methods was under the standards approved by the Ministry of Health, except for independent subcutaneous, intramuscular and intravenous injection skills and the skill of working with a ventilator. Also, according to the Friedman test, the lowest score for gaining skills in performing procedures was related to NG tube placement skills and subcutaneous, intramuscular, and intravenous injection skills. According to the statistical results obtained from the Spearman coefficient in all procedures, the level of subcutaneous, intramuscular, and intravenous injection skills had a significant correlation with independent skills.

According to the specialized assistants of children participating in this study, the current training program of essential procedural skills implemented at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences was generally useful and effective. But there were also obstacles and limitations. Therefore, it is recommended to review the implementation of the training programs and implement effective measures, including providing more exposure conditions for independent procedures.