Procedural Skills in Medicine: Linkmg Theory to Prawice

Cl Abstract-Emergency departments offer a unique educstiond setting where housestaff can be exposed to and learn a variety of procedural 5k& However, procedural skills are often overlooked as an assumed activity without a formal educational context. The clinical educator’s understmding of the educational princfpals of teaching and learning procedural skills is minimal. This review offers further insight. The “psychomotor domain,” which represents a hierarchy of learning motor skills, and relevant motor Bean&g theory extracted from the edtrcational psychology literature are reviewed. These theoretical considerations can be adapted to and provide useful information relevant to procedural medicine. Issues of curriculum content, methods of teachbrg and learning, and issues of competence relevant to the creation of a procedural skill program are reviewed and discussed.