PC3109: Impact of Boot Camp on Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Training

Background: Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship training has a steep learning curve which requires understanding of concepts and learning procedures that are novel to the pediatric resident. The Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Boot Camp (PCFB) at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital was developed to facilitate a smooth transition to fellowship by providing a series of lectures coupled with hands-on procedural and case-based simulation sessions. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate whether the boot camp improved incoming fellows’ knowledge base and procedural skills. The secondary aim assessed trainee perception of the impact of various facets of PCFB.

Methods: The improvement in knowledge-base was assessed using the Kruskal-Wallis test by comparing results of twenty pre and post-training questions. To measure improvement in procedural skills, a mid-term survey was used to compare the time-frame when the fellows felt comfortable performing a full study pediatric echocardiogram. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the survey responses between PCFB participants (nine incoming fellows during 2019-2021) and non-participants (ten fellows that included six graduated fellows and four senior fellows, who did not attend the boot camp and served as the control group). The impact of other facets of the PCFB based on the trainee’s perception were recorded in a survey with a total of five responses ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”.

Results: The median score on the post-test was 75% compared to 50% on the pre-test (P < 0.001) (Figure 1a). Survey data indicated that the median time when the fellows who participated in PCFB felt comfortable performing a complete pediatric echocardiogram was 6 months (IQR 4-6 months) compared to 8 months (IQR 6-10 months) for fellows who did not participate in PCFB (P = 0.002) (Figure 1b).
All nine participants strongly agreed that PCFB helped increase their immediate fund of knowledge and that the simulations were effective. PCFB also helped decrease their anxiety, improved their transition from residency to fellowship and provided an opportunity to meet and interact with a significant number of faculty and their co-fellows (Figure 2). 78% (7/9) of the participants felt that the hands-on echocardiogram simulation sessions were helpful. 88% (8/9) felt the mock codes helped them with their code management skills. Boot camp did not help the fellows identify their scholarly oversight committee members or fellowship faculty mentor.

Conclusion: PCFB provides a strong foundation and serves as an important educational tool for pediatric cardiology fellows to accelerate improvements in their knowledge base, echocardiography and code management skills. It can reduce trainee anxiety and help to smooth the transition from pediatric residency to fellowship. PCFB should include hands-on interactive training in addition to didactic lectures.