Browsing by Author "Sequeira, Duarte Castelo-Branco Matos"
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- Use of information systems as tools to improve and measure leadership skills acquisition through medical simulationPublication . Sequeira, Duarte Castelo-Branco Matos; Martins, Henrique Manuel Gil; Patrão, Luis Manuel Ribau da CostaBackground & Aims In a context of health care rising demands, paired with a pressure to reduce costs, doctors are now expected to be leaders in clinical and non-clinical settings, with different levels of responsibility. However, the majority of medical curricula do not include formal training in management and leadership. Undergraduate medical curricula are integrating advanced clinical simulation as a safe and reliable learning method. It usually represents the first opportunity for students to act as a team managing a critical situation, during which leadership skills are crucial. Most of simulations do not use electronic health records system (EHR), thus not providing training in this important field. This study aims to demonstrate how an information system can assist medical simulations, both as learning and assessment tools, in terms of leadership skills acquisition. Thus, it is intended to show how can leadership and management be taught using simulation and prove if it’s possible to introduce an information system to manage this process. By doing so, it might be possible to suggest a model of an integrated information system for teaching management and leadership. Materials & Methods A mixed methodology was used where two main research initiatives were combined. These took place in the Clinical Skills Lab of the Faculty of Health Sciences (University of Beira Interior), in Portugal. First, the author designed and developed a tool to simulate an electronic health records system, in tight collaboration with the Clinical Skills Lab. Then, using a triangulation model, an experiment was designed in the context of the Leadership and Management subject. Several simulation-based classes took place, with the purpose of training medical students in leadership. Data was collected and integrated with two survey data sets, quantitative information extracted from the EHR simulated system, as well as other qualitative data obtained or assessed by the author with the help of a video recording system. Results There were 16 teams/groups assessed, in a total of 85 students (aged between 21 and 36 years, average age of 23.4, standard deviation of 2.21. An important part of the data used for this study was obtained from the simulated EHR system, without whom it would not be possible to gather this study results. On efficiency metrics, teams took between 0 and 8 minutes to make the first interaction with the simulated EHR, took between 7 and 22 minutes to establish the correct diagnosis and took between 9 and 27 minutes to execute the desired therapeutically procedure. There were 2 groups who didn’t establish the correct diagnosis and consequently didn’t performed the desired clinical attitudes and additional plus two groups that also didn’t made the corrective therapeutic procedure. In average, each team made four complementary diagnostic test requisitions, registered 2,44 clinical history entries and listed in the system 74,3% of the executed procedures. Teams spent in average € 55,01, stated as real costs, in diagnostic tests. Considering leadership and teamwork competencies self-assessment, groups obtained an average global rate between 2,83 and 4,28, out of a Likert scale of 5 degrees. In a global external assessment on leadership skills, a total average of 3,43 e 3,33 was obtained, respectively, in a scale parallel to the one used in the self-assessment and in an additional questionnaire applied only during external analysis. 7 groups were categorized as having a direct leadership style, 4 as alternate, 3 as shared and 2 as chaotic. From the 85 students, 35 filled a two month post simulation survey. All the 35 students (100% of the responses) feel this simulation was useful in terms of leadership skills acquisition. 88,6% are interested in having access to their own session’s video recordings and 82,9% showed interest in having these sessions frequently. Discussion/conclusion It was possible to establish an association with time-related efficiency metrics with the leadership style present in each group. Groups categorized as chaotic did not reach a final diagnosis neither treat the simulated patient at their responsibility. The higher number of system interactions, sometimes repeated, can support the attribution of this categories to the groups. These number of interactions, in a real situation, could have brought higher costs to the team when compared with other teams categorized with the remaining three leadership styles. In a growing context of higher responsibility in healthcare worker’s leadership, as with a crescent technological development and also with a broader use of simulation as a learning methodology, simulation based leadership learning becomes mandatory. Teamwork and leadership does not occur spontaneously. It has to be learned and rehearsed and simulation is an excellent tool for teaching, rehearsing and analyzing team performance. Training is associated with timelier decision making as teams recognize critical events earlier and initiated interventions in a time critical manner. In fact, students claim to have learned by these simulation sessions.It is possible to introduce an information system to manage this process, providing such amount of useful data used in this study. Information systems give us the ability to improve quality of data and capacity to work on that data, extracting useful metrics and analysis. Despite the small sample of this study, differences were found regarding self-assessment and external assessment for chaotic groups, who rated themselves higher than the external observer did. Previously published results by Rudy et al. (2001) and Bryan et al. (2005) demonstrated that student leaders consistently scored themselves lower than their peers on many aspects of leadership, including altruism, compassion, integrity, accountability, commitment to excellence, and self-reflection. Leadership learning must start early on, in the context of higher education, and it must settle in well-structured curricula. With this strategy it will be possible to provide students with the necessary skills to become the doctors of tomorrow, in charge of multiple management activities, being clinical or non-clinical, and exceeding the challenges posed by globalized healthcare. This study showed the urgent necessity for the creation of systems that analyze training activities, around the clock and with powerful analytics engines. Such could allow prospective and retrospective studies based on clinical outcomes on a medium and long term.