Perioperative pain management education: a short structured regional anesthesia course compared with traditional teaching among medical students.

Background And Objectives: Previous research has demonstrated that a brief course on pain management improved knowledge and attitudes toward analgesic use among medical students. The purpose of this study is to compare a structured clinical instruction course on regional anesthesia techniques for perioperative pain management with traditional teaching given to senior medical students.

Methods: During a 1-month clerkship in anesthesiology, 40 fourth-year medical students were randomly and equally divided into 2 groups. The study group received a 2-hour structured course on regional anesthesia techniques for pain management, whereas the control group received a 1-hour lecture tutorial on regional anesthesia techniques for perioperative pain management and 1 hour of bedside teaching on acute pain management. Each student completed an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) 2 weeks after completion of the course.

Results: The study group performed better on each of the 11 items of the OSCE and on the total performance scores (mean +/- SD of 36.2 +/- 7.3 for study group versus 14.8 +/- 8.4 for the control group; P < .05). All students rated the clinical course highly valuable (4.7 +/- 0.5).

Conclusion: A structured clinical instructional course on regional techniques for perioperative pain management given to fourth-year medical students can significantly improve their understanding and knowledge compared with traditional teaching.