395 posters, 1 audios, 13 topics, 29 sessions, 1,056 authors, 461 institutions
ePostersLive by SciGen Technologies S.A. All rights reserved.
51st Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting
April 16 - 18, 2026 | Phoenix, Arizona
2316572
Assessing the Impact of a Rotation-Specific Study Guide on Clinical Performance in the Chronic Pain Setting
Poster Presenter
Part of Topic
Scientific Abstracts > Education
Introduction:
● Residents often report that subspecialty rotation expectations, such as those for chronic pain, are not effectively communicated and that their educational resources lack sufficient information [1-3].
● Our previous study looked at residents’ attitudes towards educational guides and showed that residents on the chronic pain rotation demonstrated a strong desire for a rotation-specific study guide.
● In this study, we examined residents’ attitudes and clinical performances after receiving a study guide for the chronic pain rotation to both determine its utilization and impact on learning outcomes.
Methods:
● In a pre-post experimental design from January to December 2025, 20 residents voluntarily completed an educational survey before their chronic pain rotation that asked about their perceived readiness for the rotation and whether they believed a study guide would impact that.
● Participants were split evenly into two groups: the control group, which completed the rotation without a study guide, and the interventional group, which completed it with a study guide.
● Upon rotation completion, residents were asked whether a study guide was helpful or would have been helpful, which aspects of a guide they found most important, and their confidence in their clinical performance.
● Clinical evaluations for the residents were completed by the educators who oversaw their performance and were blinded to which group they belonged to.
● This study received an exemption from the Columbia University IRB.
Results:
● Greater than 90% of residents utilized the study guide at least every other day.
● Per the educator evaluation, residents who utilized the study guide were more likely to perform to their expected academic standard than those who did not (μ= 10.0 vs 8.8; p= 0.002).
● Per the educator evaluation, residents who utilized the study guide were more likely to demonstrate adequate clinical preparation and understanding of expectations than those who did not (μ= 9.8 vs 8.4; p= 0.0046).
Discussion:
● Our study showed that nearly all residents who received a study guide utilized it consistently, demonstrating its inherent value for the rotation.
● Furthermore, we demonstrated that the guide was sought after by both groups as most felt that the guide was or would have been useful for them.
● The guide did not improve self-confidence in clinical decision-making as evidenced by the post-rotation self-assessment results, which were not statistically significantly different between the groups.
● However, rotation completion bolstered the residents’ beliefs in its importance in both groups.
● Resident clinical performance, as evaluated by the educator, showed statistically significant improvement in the study guide group as compared to the control group, indicating that third party evaluators saw clinical performance improvement associated with study guide use.
● Although educational guides are not solely sufficient for all clinical decision-making, they are strongly desired by residents and are associated with improving resident knowledge and foundational clinical decision-making as assessed by educators.
References:
1. Tonkin R, Kim O, et al. Learning the ropes: strategies program directors use to facilitate socialization of newcomer residents. BMC Med Educ.
2. Sobolewski, Brad, Benjamin T. Kerrey, Gary L. Geis, Corinne L. Bria, Matthew R. Mittiga, and Javier A. Gonzalez del Rey. "The April effect: a multimedia orientation approach to improve rotation transitions during pediatric residency." Academic Pediatrics 16, no. 3 (2016): 220-223.
3. Blumenthal, David, Manjusha Gokhale, Eric G. Campbell, and Joel S. Weissman. "Preparedness for clinical practice: reports of graduating residents at academic health centers." JAMA 286, no. 9 (2001): 1027-1034.