The ACGME has recommended that anesthesia residency programs integrate the internship year with the 3-year anesthesia training period. Because not all of our Stanford Anesthesia interns participate in an integrated clinical base year, a 10-month blended-learning online education and virtual mentorship program was designed to facilitate the transition from internship to residency. The goal of this educational informatics study was to assess the efficacy of this program, called Successful Transition to Anesthesia Residency Training (START), via a prospective, observational study. START was comprised of the following elements:
- Video Podcasts with Clinical Vignettes and Demonstrations
- Lectures on Anesthesia Fundamentals
- Pre- and Post-Quizzes on Podcast and Lecture Content
- Interactive/Collaborative Activities
- Mentorship Program with Current CA-1s
The START program has now been implemented at eight anesthesia residency programs across the country and will expand to 17 next year, including two international programs. The positive educational effects of START will be published in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education March 2013 issue.
Are you a student looking for the START online course? Please click here.