ASSESSING RESIDENT (RES) EDUCATION IN THE PEDIATRIC ICU (PICU).† 777

Current PICU RES education guidelines⁽¹⁾ conflict with concerns about increased mortality trends when RES care for pts in the PICU⁽²⁾. We hypothesize:RES satisfaction that exceeds expectations during the introduction of an intensivist designed RES required rotation (9/94) and maintainence of pt care are compatible. From 9/94-11/95, PICU demographics (admits, procedures, attending time, infection rate, mortality) were documented.Pre/post standardized tests and a likert-scale questionnaire evaluated RES PICU knowledge acquisition and RES satisfaction. Number of RES procedures were recorded. Data was analyzed using multivariate, t-test and chisquare techniques.Significance was defined as p <0.05, factor loading >0.5 and eigenvalues ≥1. Kmeans identified clusters.PICU demographics and morbidity did not differ during this time period.Obs/Exp deaths were always <0.7. All RES showed significant improvement between pre and post test knowledge scores (p<0.05).3 significant factors accounted for over 60% of RES educational satisfaction:attending availability, pt contact and didactics. The program met resident expectations >90% of the time and exceeded expectations 56% for attending, 20% for pt contact and 38% for didactics.4 distinct RES education preference clusters were identified: didactics (38%), pt contact (16%), attending availability (19%), combined attending and pt contact (27%).RES satisfaction was not affected by access to procedures nor degree of pt care responsibility. The introduction of a unit designed curriculum that attempts to exceed RES PICU educational expectations and maintains pt care are compatible. Individualized RES learning preferences can be exploited in the PICU.