TY - JOUR T1 - A structured course teaching junior doctors invasive medical procedures results in sustained improvements in self-reported confidence JF - Clinical Medicine JO - Clin Med SP - 464 LP - 467 DO - 10.7861/clinmedicine.10-5-464 VL - 10 IS - 5 AU - T Garrood AU - A Iyer AU - K Gray AU - H Prentice AU - R Bamford AU - R Jenkin AU - N Shah AU - R Gray AU - B Mearns AU - JC Ratoff Y1 - 2010/10/01 UR - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/10/5/464.abstract N2 - Pressure on working hours has led to a decrease in opportunities for training in invasive medical procedures for junior doctors. The effect of a structured course on immediate and medium-term changes in self-reported confidence was investigated. A one-day model-based practical course was run on two separate occasions teaching central venous line placement, lumbar puncture, Seldinger-technique chest drain insertion and knee joint aspiration. Attendees were asked to indicate their confidence in each procedure on a 10-point Likert scale before, immediately after and three months after the course. Significant improvements in self-reported confidence were seen for all procedures which were sustained at three months. Feedback was universally positive. Practical pre-clinical training may be a useful adjunct to patient-based training in invasive procedures. The course was particularly popular with foundation year trainees: ideally this training should be available before trainees' first exposure in the clinical setting. ER -