Evaluation of a Course to Teach Medical Students Latent Hazard Identification in the Operating Room.

Introduction: To improve situational awareness in the operating room (OR), a virtual online operating room of hazards (ROH) with deliberately placed risks was created. We hypothesized that subjects first participating in the virtual online ROH would identify more hazards during an in-person ROH exercise in a physical OR than those in the control group who only received didactic training.

Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial at a major academic medical center, enrolling 48 pre-clinical medical students with no previous OR exposure during their classes.

Bridging Health Disparities and Improving Reproductive Outcomes With Health Center-Affiliated Doula Programs.

Doulas are community perinatal professionals trained in pregnancy health, childbirth preparation, labor support, lactation counseling, and postnatal care. Doulas serve as patient advocates and provide laboring patients with continuous one-to-one support including informational, physical, and emotional support. Research shows that access to continuous labor support contributes to positive health outcomes such as increasing rates of spontaneous vaginal delivery, shorter labor, less need for analgesics, and increased satisfaction with the birthing process.