Fundamentals of blood banking in anesthesiology: A problem-based learning simulation session as an addition to a novel curriculum of transfusion medicine education for anesthesiology residents

Abstract

We have previously published a novel transfusion medicine curriculum for first-year anesthesiology residents, making available open access learning materials. We now present a curriculum iteration, by incorporating resident feedback and developing an additional “capstone” session for use at the end of the rotation that integrates several learning points into a practical problem-based simulation. This iteration of the curriculum was piloted with the 2019–2020 PGY-1 anesthesiology residents of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics. Pre-course and post-course surveys, which assessed trainee understanding of course topics, were used to subjectively evaluate the usefulness of the curriculum. Results of the surveys demonstrated post-test mean scores were significantly increased when compared with the equivalent pre-course questions. This suggests the piloted curriculum iteration serves as a useful tool for resident learning. As an adjunct to our previous existing materials, in the spirit of open-access education, we share this additional curriculum material, consisting of four patient cases with 16 questions that can be used immediately for teaching purposes.