Extracurricular work experience and its association with training and confidence in emergency medicine procedures among medical students: a cross-sectional study from a Norwegian medical school

• Published in: BMJ Open
• Main Authors: Remi William Scott, Knut Fredriksen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2022
• Subjects: Medicine; R; Tromsø
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057870; https://doaj.org/article/926e316dbf3d4022abc61e4341090fd7

Objective Proficiency in basic emergency procedures is important for junior doctors, but the amount of practical exposure may vary. We studied the association between students’ extracurricular healthcare-related (ECHR) work experience and self-reported practical training and confidence in selected emergency medicine procedures.Study design Cross-sectional study.Materials and methods Medical students and first-year graduates answered a Likert-based questionnaire probing self-reported amount of exposure to (‘training amount’) and confidence with selected emergency medicine procedures. Participants also reported ECHR work experience, year of study, previous healthcare-related education, military medic training and participation in the local student association for emergency medicine (Tromsø Acute Medicine Students’ Association (TAMS)). Differences within variables were analysed with independent samples t-tests, and correlation between training amount and confidence was calculated. Analysis of covariance and mixed models were applied to study associations between training amount and confidence, and work experience (primary outcomes) and the other reported factors (secondary outcomes), respectively.Results 539 participants responded (70%). Among these, 81% had ECHR work experience. There was a strong correlation (r=0.878) between training amount and confidence. Work experience accounted for 5.9% and 3.5% of the total variance in training amount and confidence (primary outcomes), and respondents with work experience scored significantly higher than respondents without work experience. Year of study, previous education, military medic training and TAMS participation accounted for 49.3%, 8.7%, 6.8% and 23.6%, and 58.5%, 5.1%, 4.7% and 12.3% of the total variance in training amount and confidence, respectively (secondary outcomes). Cohen’s D was 0.48 for training amount and 0.32 for confidence level, suggesting medium and weak medium-sized associations with work experience, respectively.Conclusion ECHR work experience is ...