Do ATLS Instructor Courses Have an Impact on Teaching Skills and Attitude of Instructors? Mohammed Y. Al-Naami FRCSC, FACS, M Ed.

ATLS® in The United States Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Courses for physicians started in Nebraska, USA 1978 American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) sponsored the courses in 1979 Since then ATLS courses were spread and instructors were recruited in the US and worldwide

History of ATLS ® in the Saudi Arabian Chapter Introduced to Riyadh in October 1991 and consists of 15 Centers 13 centers in Saudi Arabia 1 center in Bahrain (1998) 1 center in Qatar (2000) In 2005, 47 ATLS ® courses were conducted in the Saudi Arabian Chapter

Number of ATLS ® courses conducted at each center since their establishment until December 2005 is 400 Course Statistics

Total number of ATLS ® Providers & Instructors Trained in all 15 centers from Oct 1991 to Dec 2005 is 5,532

Number of ATLS ® Courses in 2006

Number of ATLS ® Providers and Instructors trained in 2006

Number of ATLS ® Faculty Trained Course Directors = 40 Instructors = 427 Educators = 2 Coordinators = 51

OBJECTIVES To examine the impact of ATLS instructor courses on instructors at the end of the course To examine the impact of ATLS instructor courses on instructors performance and attitude some time later

METHODS Instructor course evaluation questionnaire designed by the ACS COT was filled up by participants at the end of the course This questionnaire addresses the impact of the courses on instructor’s performance and attitude Another questionnaire designed by the authors addressing same competency areas was sent to instructors some time later

CONT. METHODS Responses were tabulated in Excel® Microsoft program Frequency and percentages were used to compare instructors opinion at the course and after some time later Chi square was used to compare data

RESULTS 60 Instructor Candidates filled the course evaluation questionnaire at the end of the course 63 Instructors filled up a questionnaire containing same competency areas some time later

Impact of the Instructor Course on my Educational Knowledge

DISCUSSION Majority of participants praised the course Majority of participants praised the faculty Being ATLS instructor, this has opened many other teaching and instructional opportunities as said by some faculty Course has affected my whole life professionally and socially, said by some

CONT. DISCUSSION Some had the following suggestions: Extension of the course time Refresher courses Extension of practical skills teaching time Extension of individual’s microteaching Need a session on scoring system Evaluation of instructors from day 1 is not fair Need to teach in a course at least once a year

CONT. DISCUSSION GD Moss demonstrated a positive impact of instructor courses on instructors performance especially for practical skills, but least effective concerning small group teaching and questioning techniques Azcona et al. demonstrated positive impact of instructor courses on attitude and clinical skills with decrease in cognitive performance over time

CONCLUSIONS Instructor courses have a positive impact on instructors lecturing skills, small group teaching, initial assessment, and attitude However, instructor courses did not show the same impact on their educational knowledge and practical skills over time

Cont. CONCLUSIONS There is a need for periodical revisions of instructor courses addressing the following issues: More refreshing courses More practical skills teaching Changing instructional methods

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