Peer Learning and Mentorship for Neonatal Management Skills: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.

Background: Clinical knowledge and skills acquired during training programs like Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) and Essential Care for Every Baby (ECEB) decay within weeks or months. We assessed the effect of a peer learning intervention paired with mentorship on retention of HBB and ECEB skills, knowledge, and teamwork in 5 districts of Uganda.

Methods: We randomized participants from 36 Ugandan health centers to control and intervention arms.

Can plain film radiography improve the emergency department detection of clinically important urinary stones?

Objective: Physicians frequently use ultrasound to assess hydronephrosis in patients with suspected renal colic, but ultrasound has limited diagnostic sensitivity and rarely clarifies stone size or location. Consequently, up to 80% of emergency department (ED) renal colic patients undergo confirmatory CT imaging. Our goal was to estimate x-ray sensitivity for urinary stones and determine whether x-ray substantially improves stone detection (sensitivity) compared to hydronephrosis assessment alone.

Feasibility of an Interprofessional, Simulation-Based Curriculum to Improve Teamwork Skills, Clinical Skills, and Knowledge of Undergraduate Medical and Nursing Students in Uganda: A Cohort Study.

Introduction: Many deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa are preventable with provision of skilled healthcare. Unfortunately, skills decay after training. We determined the feasibility of implementing an interprofessional (IP) simulation-based educational curriculum in Uganda and evaluated the possible impact of this curriculum on teamwork, clinical skills (CSs), and knowledge among undergraduate medical and nursing students.

Sim for Life: Foundations-A Simulation Educator Training Course to Improve Debriefing Quality in a Low Resource Setting: A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Despite the importance of debriefing, little is known about the effectiveness of training programs designed to teach debriefing skills. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a faculty development program for new simulation educators at Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda, Africa.

Methods: Healthcare professionals were recruited to attend a 2-day simulation educator faculty development course (Sim for Life: Foundations), covering principles of scenario design, scenario execution, prebriefing, and debriefing.

Simulation and Active Learning Decreases Training Time of an Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment Course in Pilot Study in Malawi: Implications for Increasing Efficiency and Workforce Capacity in Low-Resource Settings.

Objectives: The aim of the Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment (ETAT) plus trauma course is to improve the quality of care provided to infants and children younger than 5 years. The curriculum was revised and shortened from 5 to 2.5 days by enhancing simulation and active learning opportunities.

Use of Pharmacologic Sleep Aids and Stimulants Among Emergency Medicine Staff Physicians in a Canadian Tertiary Care Setting: A Web-Based Survey.

Study Objective: Emergency medicine by its nature requires shift work that follows an erratic and unpredictable pattern. Faced with this challenge, we hypothesize that many emergency physicians have taken steps to minimize their personal sleep deprivation through the use of pharmacologic sleep aids. The extent and nature of pharmacologic sleep aid use in this population is not well studied.

The "Empty Chairs" Approach to Learning: Simulation-Based Train the Trainer Program in Mzuzu, Malawi.

Together, a group of Canadian colleagues from St. John's, Newfoundland, Calgary, Alberta (some via Doha) and London, Ontario introduced the first Train the Trainer in Simulation-Based Learning (TTT-SBL) program in Mzuzu Central Hospital and Mzuzu University in Malawi. The team led by Elaine Sigalet (Doha) and consisting of Ian Wishart (Calgary), Faizal Haji (London) and Adam Dubrowski (St.

Are we at risk of groupthink in our approach to teamwork interventions in health care?

Context: The incidence of medical error, adverse clinical events and poor quality health care is unacceptably high and there are data to suggest that poor coordination of care, or teamwork, contributes to adverse outcomes. So, can we assume that increased collaboration in multidisciplinary teams improves performance and health care outcomes for patients?

Methods: In this essay, the authors discuss some reasons why we should not presume that collective decision making leads to better decisions and collaborative care results in better health care outcomes.

Results: Despite an exponential increase in interventions designed to improve teamwork and interprofessional education (IPE), we are still lacking good quality data on whether these interventions improve important outcomes.

Deaths from exposure to paramethoxymethamphetamine in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada: a case series.

Background: Paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) is a ring-substituted amphetamine similar in structure to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or "ecstasy"), but substantially more toxic. We describe the clinical features of fatal exposures in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective case series on deaths in Alberta and BC between June 2011 and April 2012 for which forensic toxicologic analysis was positive for PMMA and the drug was implicated as the primary toxic agent.

Medical educators' perspectives of teaching physical examinations using ultrasonography at the undergraduate level.

Background: Ultrasonography is increasingly used for teaching physical examination in medical schools. This study seeks the opinions of educators as to which physical examinations would be most enhanced by the addition of ultrasonography. We also asked when ultrasound-aided physical examination teaching could have deleterious effects if used outside its intended scope.

Use of the Ottawa Ankle Rules in children: a survey of physicians' practice patterns.

Introduction: A number of studies have assessed the diagnostic accuracy of the Ottawa Ankle Rules (OAR) in children; however, the role of the OAR in guiding physician radiograph use is unclear.

Objectives: The primary purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Canadian pediatric emergency physicians report using the OAR. Secondary goals included determining current diagnostic and management strategies for Salter-Harris 1 (SH-1) injuries of the ankle and which fractures physicians deem to be clinically significant.