Training exposure and confidence level among medical officers: Does an Emergency Physician make a difference?

Background And Purpose: The training of emergency medical officers has always been informal. Only recently, the presence of emergency physician may have a positive influence in their training and development. This study aims to determine the effect of Emergency Physician (EP) presence on the training exposure and confidence level of medical officers in their practice.

Materials And Methods: Questionnaires were mailed to all ED (emergency department) medical officers working in 130 Malaysian Ministry of Health hospitals. They were required to answer the 14-item questionnaire, which includes demographic section, training modalities available and confidence score of listed clinical scenarios related to their work practice.

Results: The response rate was 41.3% (n=217). Only 210 questionnaires were complete for analysis. There were more responses gathered from ED medical officers with EP (123 vs 87). ED medical officers working with in-house EP were exposed to more training modalities as compared to their counterparts in ED with absence of EP. All five responses (100%) that stated that there was no training available in their department came from ED without EP. Total confidence score was found to be significantly higher among ED medical officers in ED with EP presence (mean score 132.5 versus 120.45; p<0.001; 95%CI: 6.526-17.58).

Conclusions: Presence of EP in the ED have positive influences on medical officers training exposure and hence confidence level in performing their clinical duties.