Impact of formal teaching on medical documentation by interns in an emergency department in a Queensland teaching hospital.

This study's objective was to determine whether tuition in medical documentation enhanced the ability of emergency medicine interns to produce effective medical records. The study adopted a case control design, using a retrospective document audit methodology, following an education intervention during the 'More Learning for Interns in Emergency' (MoLIE) programme. It was conducted in a tertiary hospital that supports five 10 week rotations of 12 interns each year (n = 60). Controls were drawn from records written in March 2012 and cases from March 2013. A total of 250 medical records written by interns were audited, 125 from each year. Three categories of documentation were investigated: patient characteristics, clinical impressions and management plan using a purpose-designed score sheet. Three individual items (differential diagnosis [DDX], Support and Impressions [Impress]) showed significant improvement. The proportion of excellent scores for DDX increased by 50% from 40.8% to 61.6%. A χ(2) test for independence (with Yates continuity correction) indicated a significant association between the intervention and subsequent score (X(2) [1, n = 250] = 10.006, P < 0.001, phi -0.208). For Impress, a 48% increase in excellent scores was seen (39.2% to 58.4%). A χ(2) test for independence indicated a significant association between the intervention and subsequent score (X(2) [2, n = 250] = 11.249, P = 0.004, Cramer's V 0.212). The variable Support also improved (X(2) [2, n = 250] = 8.297, P = 0.012, Cramer's V 0.189) with the number of excellent scores increasing from 37.6% to 48.0%. The study demonstrated that documentation of clinical notes by interns can be enhanced by formal tuition.

Isoardi J ，Spencer L ，Sinnott M ，Eley R ... -  《-》

Impact of a structured intern education programme on clinical documentation in the emergency department.

To evaluate the impact of More Learning for Interns in Emergency (MoLIE) on clinical documentation in the ED of a large regional hospital. MoLIE was implemented at The Townsville Hospital (TTH) in 2010, and has since provided ED interns with structured off-floor teaching and a dedicated clinical supervisor. A pre- and post-intervention study was conducted using retrospective medical record review methodology. Charts were selected by identifying all TTH ED patients seen by interns in the period 2008-2011. Two hundred pre-intervention records (2008-2009) and 200 post-intervention records (2010-2011) were reviewed. These were randomly selected following an initial screen by an ED staff specialist. The quality of clinical documentation for five common ED presentations (asthma, chest pain, lacerations, abdominal pain and upper limb fractures) was assessed. For each presentation, documentation quality was scored out of 10 using predefined criteria. An improvement of two or more was thought to be clinically significant. Mean scores for each group were compared using a Student's t-test for independent samples. Mean documentation scores (and 95% confidence intervals) were 5.55 (5.17-5.93) in 2008, 5.42 (4.98-5.86) in 2009, 6.37 (5.99-6.75) in 2010 and 6.08 (5.71-6.45) in 2011. There was a statistically but not clinically significant improvement in scores pre- and post-intervention (P ≤ 0.001). The introduction of MoLIE was associated with a small but statistically significant improvement in documentation, despite an 80% increase in intern placements. These results suggest that structured training programmes have potential to improve intern performance while simultaneously enhancing training capacity. The impact on quality of care requires further evaluation.

McLean A ，Lawlor J ，Mitchell R ，Kault D ，O'Kane C ，Lees M ... -  《-》

Exploration of the perceptions of emergency physicians and interns regarding the medical documentation practices of interns.

The primary objective of the present study was to learn the factors that influence the documentation practices of ED interns. A second objective was to identify the expectations of emergency physicians (EPs) towards the medical record documentation of ED interns. A qualitative design was adopted using semi-structured interviews in convenience samples drawn from both groups. Eighteen interviews were conducted with intern volunteers and 10 with EP volunteers. One (5%) intern and two (20%) EPs had received medical documentation training. Factors that encouraged interns' documentation included: patient acuity (the more critical the condition, the more comprehensive the documentation) and the support of senior colleagues. Inhibiting factors included uncertainty about how much to write, and the shift being worked (interns indicated they wrote less at night). Factors of consequence to senior personnel included the apparent reluctance of interns to document management plans. They noted that interns frequently confine their notes to assessment, investigations and treatments, whereas EPs preferred records that demonstrated intern thought processes and included such matters as future actions to follow immediate treatment. A positive theme that emerged included the high level of support interns received from their senior colleagues. Another theme, the influence of patient acuity, held both positive and negative implications for intern writing practices. The lack of formal training is an impediment to the production of useful medical records by ED interns. One solution proposed by both interns and senior personnel was the introduction of the subject into intern education programmes.

Isoardi J ，Spencer L ，Sinnott M ，Nicholls K ，O'Connor A ，Jones F ... -  《-》

Evaluating the impact of emergency medicine education on medical interns' knowledge scores.

Emergency medicine is a young specialty in Iran. Since 2005, a 4-week rotation has been allocated to emergency medicine instruction for all medical interns during their medical internship in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. In this study, we have evaluated the impact of emergency medicine rotation on medical interns' knowledge in the field of emergency medicine. From October 2005 to May 2006, 10 medical interns of emergency medicine rotation were randomly enrolled in this study each month. They were administered a pretest assessing their emergency medicine knowledge. Then, they attended a theoretical and practical course. Finally, they were reassessed by a post-test similar to the pretest. There were 98 medical interns, including 53 male (54.08%) and 45 female (45.91%) participants. The mean of participants' age was 25.50 (±1.47) years. Their internship duration spanned from 1 to 18 months, with a mean of 5.40 (±4.71) months. The difference between participants' pretest and post-test scores was statistically significant (P<0.0001). There was no significant difference between pretest and post-test scores within male (P=0.856) and female (P=0.973) participants. There was a significant inverse correlation between participants' age and their pretest scores (P=0.017). But there was no significant correlation between participants' age and the difference between pretest and post-test scores (P=0.307). It seems that emergency medicine rotation improves the medical interns' knowledge in the field of emergency medicine; and their sex, passed medical blocks and the duration of internship do not affect this knowledge.

Afzalimoghaddam M ，Hoseinidavarani H ，Hossein-nejad H 《-》

Intern underperformance is detected more frequently in emergency medicine rotations.

To determine the frequency and nature of intern underperformance as documented on in-training assessment forms. A retrospective review of intern assessment forms from a 2 year period (2009-2010) was conducted at a tertiary referral hospital in Brisbane, Queensland. The frequency of interns assessed as 'requiring substantial assistance' and/or 'requires further development' on mid- or end-of-term assessment forms was determined. Forms were analysed by the clinical rotation, time of year and domain(s) of clinical practice in which underperformance was documented. During 2009 and 2010 the overall documented incidence of intern underperformance was 2.4% (95% CI 1.5-3.9%). Clinical rotation in emergency medicine detected significantly more underperformance compared with other rotations (P < 0.01). Interns predominantly had difficulty with 'clinical judgment and decision-making skills', 'time management skills' and 'teamwork and colleagues' (62.5%, 55% and 32.5% of underperforming assessments, respectively). Time of the year did not affect frequency of underperformance. A proportion of 13.4% (95% CI 9.2-19.0%) of interns working at the institution over the study period received at least one assessment in which underperformance was documented. Seventy-six per cent of those interns who had underperformance identified by mid-term assessment successfully completed the term following remediation. The prevalence of underperformance among interns is low, although higher than previously suggested. Emergency medicine detects relatively more interns in difficulty than other rotations.

Aram N ，Brazil V ，Davin L ，Greenslade J ... -  《-》