Student advanced trauma management and skills (SATMAS): a validation study

Prakrit R Kumar; Jamie Large; Nagarjun Konda; Yousuf Hashmi; Oluwasemilore Adebayo; Meenakshi Sivaraman; Justine J Lee

doi:10.1007/s00068-024-02456-4

Student advanced trauma management and skills (SATMAS): a validation study

Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2024 Feb 2. doi: 10.1007/s00068-024-02456-4. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Prakrit R Kumar¹, Jamie Large², Nagarjun Konda^{3

4}, Yousuf Hashmi⁵, Oluwasemilore Adebayo⁵, Meenakshi Sivaraman⁶, Justine J Lee⁷

Affiliations

¹ Lister Hospital, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 4AB, UK. prakritraj.kumar@nhs.net.
² Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
³ University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire, Coventry, UK.
⁴ University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
⁵ College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁶ Rock Bridge High School, Columbia, MO, USA.
⁷ Major Trauma Service, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK.

PMID: 38305858
DOI: 10.1007/s00068-024-02456-4

Abstract

Introduction: Despite trauma accounting 9% of global mortality, it has been demonstrated that undergraduate trauma teaching is inadequate nationally and worldwide. With COVID-19 exacerbating this situation, a scalable, accessible, and cost-effective undergraduate trauma teaching is required.

Methods: Our Continual Professional Development United Kingdom (CPUDK)-accredited University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) Major Trauma Service (MTS) affiliated programme consisted of seven biweekly pre-recorded sessions that were delivered online through the Moodle educational platform to University of Birmingham students. Pre- and post-randomised session-specific multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and anonymous feedback forms were administered.

Results: There were 489 student responses, with 63 students completing all seven sessions. On an 8-point scale, students' objective knowledge scores increased by a mean of 1.2 (p < 0.001). Using a 5-point Likert scale, students also showed improvement in subjective outcomes including their confidence in assessing trauma patient (absolute difference (AD) 1.38, p < 0.001), advising initial investigations and formulating initial management plans (AD 1.78, p < 0.001) and thereby their confidence to manage a trauma patient overall (AD 1.98, p < 0.001). A total of 410 student responses endorsed the online delivery of SATMAS through Moodle and recommended SATMAS to future medical students.

Conclusion: SATMAS has demonstrated positive student feedback and extensive recruitment from only one centre, demonstrating that our programme can be an indispensable low-cost learning resource that prepares undergraduate medical students for their trauma exams and informs the implementation of clinical skills required by all doctors. We publish our pilot study findings to encourage similar teaching programmes to be adopted at other universities nationally and internationally, to synergistically benefit students, tutors, and ultimately patients, on a larger scale.

Keywords: Medical education; National evaluation; Trauma and orthopaedics; Undergraduate.