Do ATLS Instructor Courses Have an Impact on Teaching Skills
and Attitude of Instructors? Mohammed Y. Al-Naami FRCSC, FACS, M
Ed.
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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
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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
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Number of ATLS courses conducted at each center since their
establishment until December 2005 is 400 Course Statistics
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Total number of ATLS Providers & Instructors Trained in all
15 centers from Oct 1991 to Dec 2005 is 5,532
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Number of ATLS Courses in 2006
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Number of ATLS Providers and Instructors trained in 2006
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Number of ATLS Faculty Trained Course Directors = 40
Instructors = 427 Educators = 2 Coordinators = 51
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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
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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
instructors performance and attitude Another questionnaire designed
by the authors addressing same competency areas was sent to
instructors some time later
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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
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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
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Impact of the Instructor Course on my Educational
Knowledge
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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
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CONT. DISCUSSION Some had the following suggestions: Extension
of the course time Refresher courses Extension of practical skills
teaching time Extension of individuals 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
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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
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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
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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