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UK
Medical Students
Untrained in Basic Skills
LONDON
(Reuters Health) - Medical students in the UK are worried they
have not been properly trained to carry out basic tasks such as
inserting an intravenous drip, taking blood samples or suturing
a wound, survey findings indicate.
The survey
asked 122 students taking their final examinations at Sheffield
University, and 84 graduates from the same school about the training
they had received in eight core clinical skills.
These included
insertion of an IV tube, venous and arterial blood sampling, insertion
of a nasogastric tube, suturing a wound, bladder catheterization
and performing an ECG (electrocardiogram).
Questions
were also asked about training in prevention and handling of needlestick
injuries, an important issue for all healthcare workers because
of the risk of transmitting bloodborne diseases.
The results,
published in the October issue of the Journal of the Royal Society
of Medicine, show that nearly one third of the final year students
had never had a chance to practice installing a urinary catheter,
and more than half had ''negligible'' experience in performing
ECGs.
Most house
officers (doctors doing their first hospital job) did not receive
further practical training after qualification, and their responses
to the survey showed that they were regularly being expected to
practice the eight core skills ``despite inadequate training,
and with no supervision to ensure correct technique.''
None of the
hospitals in which they worked had formal needlestick training,
and 63% of house officers said they had never had this training
even as undergraduates.
Peter Goodfellow
and colleagues at Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire Hospital carried
out the study after a group of Sheffield medical students, all
approaching final exams, said they were worried about their 'haphazard
and random' training in many of the procedures they would need
on the wards after qualification.
The authors
said there was no reason to believe Sheffield was worse than other
medical schools in the UK.
SOURCE:
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 2001;94:517-519
Reference
Source 89
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