Abstracts

Rationale: A recent study of pediatric residency graduates found that only 22% felt very confident in approaching patients with a neurologic condition. Seizures are frequently encountered at academic hospitals. Despite this prevalence, pediatric trainees graduate residency without sufficient confidence in treating patients with seizures._x000D_  _x000D_ At this time, pediatric trainees at our institution do not receive formal training about the status algorithm or febrile seizures. In this project we aim to improve pediatric trainees' comfort with treating status epilepticus as well as their counseling about febrile seizures.  

Methods: In this project, we created a curriculum teaching the Status Epilepticus Algorithm at our hospital as well as teaching the recommended anticipatory guidance that should be provided to patients with febrile seizures. We also created standardized material that was provided to use as a reference. We analyzed participant’s responses pre and post our intervention.

Results: A total of 17 participants took the pre-session survey and 15 participants took the post-survey. Twelve (79.6%) of participants were in their PGY-1 of training and 5 (29.4%) were in PGY-3. 10 (58.8%) participants had taken part in the management of a patient in status epilepticus prior to the session. _x000D_  _x000D_ Prior to the session, 23.5% respondents reported feeling very uncomfortable, 17.6% reported feeling somewhat comfortable, 29.4% felt neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, and 29.4% felt somewhat comfortable managing status epilepticus. This improved to 14 out of the remaining 15 participants (93.3%) at the end of the session reporting that they felt somewhat comfortable._x000D_  _x000D_ In regard to providing anticipatory guidance for febrile seizures, 5 (29.4%) reported feeling very comfortable and 8 (47.1%) felt somewhat comfortable. Two (11.8%) participants reported feeling very uncomfortable. After the session, 9 of the 15 remaining participants (60%) felt very comfortable and 5 (33.3%) felt somewhat comfortable with this task.

Conclusions: The majority of participants in our study were interns in the third month of residency. Only 29.4% of participants felt somewhat comfortable treating status epilepticus at the start of the curriculum compared to 93.3% of participants after the curriculum, indicating that our intervention improved comfort level. A larger portion of residents initially felt at least somewhat comfortable providing anticipatory guidance for febrile seizures. This improved to >90% of participants after taking part in the curriculum. The results of this survey support the practice of reviewing and teaching the institution’s Status Epilepticus Algorithm as well as febrile seizure anticipatory guidance with new trainees early in the year to promote familiarity and comfort with the expected management.

Funding: Not applicable