405 Improving Confidence in Managing Acute Urology: A Quality Improvement Project
C Bradley, R Iqbal, N Shivakumar, I Ibrahim- Surgery
Abstract
Introduction
A lack of confidence in the management of acute urology presentations amongst junior trainees was identified. Out of hours cover is provided by middle-grade doctors (FY2 to ST2), from general surgery and orthopaedics. Ward cover is provided by FY1s. There are no dedicated urology juniors, therefore exposure to urology presentations/teaching is limited. A teaching course was designed to address this and improve confidence in managing common acute urological presentations.
Method
The ‘Emergency Urology Course’ was delivered at a district general hospital over four weeks, comprising of four sessions (stones, penoscrotal, catheters/retention, oncology/miscellaneous topics). Teaching sessions were undertaken by trainees with experience of urology at registrar level. The course was advertised via email, posters and word of mouth. Teaching topics were based on common presentations. All sessions were well attended by juniors with no prior urology experience. 20 completed the pre and post course evaluations.
Results
Course evaluations showed an increase in reported confidence amongst junior doctors across all topics/sessions. The juniors rated their confidence out of 10 with regards to management of emergencies. The average score prior to the course was 4.6/10. Following course devliery, the average confidence had increased to 7.9/10.
Conclusions
Overall, we demonstrated an increase in junior doctors' confidence in the management of emergency urology presentations, following delivery of a focused course. This will aim to support the juniors and reduce registrar involvement, especially out of hours. Future plans include converting the course into an online format to be more flexible, and reach a wider audience.