Impact of a multifaceted pediatric sedation course: self-directed learning versus a formal continuing medical education course to improve knowledge of sedation guidelines.

BACKGROUND Procedural sedation guidelines were established for a tertiary care pediatric emergency department (ED). We developed a pediatric procedural sedation course to disseminate these guidelines. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of a sedation course in improving physicians' knowledge of pediatric procedural sedation practices and guidelines, relative to individual self-directed learning. METHODS We recruited emergency staff physicians and fellows as well as fourth-year pediatric residents in a tertiary care pediatric ED to participate in a randomized, controlled, educational intervention. All consenting physicians received pediatric sedation educational material for individual study 2 weeks before a learning assessment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of 2 groups. The self-directed learning group (n = 24) completed a multiple-choice examination without receiving any formal teaching. The study group (n= 24) participated in a 4-hour formal multifaceted sedation course before writing the multiple-choice examination. RESULTS The groups did not differ significantly in demographic characteristics or self-perceived knowledge of pediatric sedation. The formal teaching group's median examination score (83.3%; range 75.8%-96.5%) was significantly higher (p < 0.0001) than the median examination score of participants in the self-directed study group (73.3%, range 43.5%-86.6%). CONCLUSION The multifaceted sedation course was more effective in improving physician knowledge and understanding of sedation guidelines and practices than unstructured, self-directed learning.