Interactive Multimodal Curriculum on Use and Interpretation of Inpatient Telemetry

• Published in: MedEdPORTAL 2018-07, Vol.14, p.10730-10730
• Main Authors: Chuzi, Sarah, Cantey, Eric P, Unger, Erin, Rosenthal, James E, Didwania, Aashish, McGaghie, William C, Prenner, Stuart
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cardiac Arrhythmias; Cardiology; Computer-Assisted Instruction - methods; Computer-Assisted Instruction - standards; Curriculum - trends; Educational Measurement - methods; Hospital Medicine; Humans; Inpatients; Internship and Residency - methods; Original Publication; Simulation Training; Teaching - standards; Teaching - trends; Telemetry; Telemetry - methods; Telemetry - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 2374-8265; 2374-8265
• DOI: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10730

Inpatient telemetry monitoring is a commonly used technology designed to detect and monitor life-threatening arrhythmias. However, residents are rarely educated in the proper use and interpretation of telemetry monitoring. We developed a training module containing an educational video, PowerPoint presentation, and hands-on interactive learning session with a telemetry expert. The module highlights proper use of telemetry monitoring, recognition of telemetry artifact, and interrogation of telemetry to identify clinically significant arrhythmias. Learners completed pre- and postcurriculum knowledge-based assessments and a postcurriculum survey on their experience with the module. In total, the educational curriculum had three 60-minute sessions. Thirty-two residents participated in the training module. Residents scored higher on the posttest (77% ± 12%) than on the pretest (70% ± 12%), (31) = -4.3, < .001. Wilcoxon signed rank tests indicated PGY-3s performed better on the posttest ( = 0.86) than on the pretest ( = 0.72), = -2.19, = .031. PGY-2s also performed better on the posttest ( = 0.86) than on the pretest ( = 0.76), = -2.04, = .042. There was no difference between pretest ( = 0.66) and posttest ( = 0.71) scores for PGY-1s, = -1.50, = .142. The majority of residents reported that the telemetry curriculum boosted their self-confidence, helped prepare them to analyze telemetry on their patients, and should be a required component of the residency. This module represents a new paradigm for teaching residents how to successfully and confidently interpret and use inpatient telemetry.