@article{ref1,
title="Evaluating the effectiveness of a pediatric trauma educational program in Central America",
journal="Pediatric emergency care",
year="1996",
author="Kadish, H. A. and Bolte, R. G. and Santora, S. D. and Espinoza, R. and Woodward, G. A.",
volume="12",
number="6",
pages="407-410",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a pediatric trauma course taught in a developing country. STUDY DESIGN: A pediatric trauma course was designed with didactic presentations and reinforced with small group case discussions. Subjects included a general trauma overview, head trauma, airway/chest trauma, cervical spine trauma, abdominal trauma, shock, burns, and orthopedic injuries. Evaluation consisted of a pre- and post-course test and questionnaire assessing the participants' knowledge and level of comfort in managing trauma. Nine months after the course, the participants were evaluated with the same post-course test. Also a questionnaire was given to physician and nurse co-workers from the participating institutions, who themselves had not participated in the course, to assess the perceptual and attitudinal impact of the pediatric trauma course. SETTING: Guatemala City, Guatemala. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-three physicians from Central America. RESULTS: Initial and nine-month post-test scores showed uniform improvement (P value < 0.05) when compared to pretest results using the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Analysis of the pre- and post-course questionnaires indicated that all participants felt more comfortable (scale 1 to 5) after the course managing pediatric trauma patients. All participants &quot;strongly agreed&quot; the course provided information that would improve their management of the pediatric trauma victim. Nine months after the course, 100% of their medical co-workers perceived physicians who participated in the pediatric trauma course to have better resuscitative skills, and 92% perceived these physicians to have a higher level of confidence. CONCLUSION: This course, when presented to physicians in a developing country, appears to be effective in improving their knowledge base regarding pediatric trauma and increasing their comfort level in managing major pediatric trauma.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0749-5161",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}