Efficacy of Medical Students as Stop the Bleed Participants and Instructors

Abstract

Objective: The Stop the Bleed (STB) program trains lay rescuers to identify and control life-threatening bleeding. Recently, medical students were allowed to become coinstructors. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of medical student course participation as both learners and instructors. No previous study to date has provided a critical objective assessment of medical student learners and educators of STB courses.

Study design: Participants anonymously self-reported pre- and postcourse confidence in 6 major skill areas using a 5-point Likert scale. At the end of the course, students' ability to perform STB skills was assessed using an internally validated 15-point objective assessment tool.

Setting: Two US medical schools (Tulane University School of Medicine and Louisiana State University in New Orleans) which represent private and state institutions, respectively.

Participants: A total of 423 medical students were enrolled in the course. A pilot group of medical students volunteered to be instructors and their ability to effectively teach the course was objectively assessed.

Results: Overall precourse confidence was highest in holding pressure on a wound and lowest in identification of severe active bleeding. Postcourse participant confidence increased significantly in all 6 core areas, including confidence to teach hemorrhage control skills to others. Objective assessment of medical students by STB instructors found 72.4% of medical students achieving perfect scores on their skill proficiency assessments. An assessment of 48 medical student instructors found that all students were able to proficiently serve as instructors.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that medical students can effectively master STB skills and can also serve as competent course instructors. Future program development should focus on continued training of medical students and their involvement as instructors to help increase the availability of STB courses.

Keywords: Interpersonal and Communication Skills; Medical Knowledge; Practice-Based Learning and Improvement; Stop the bleed; hemorrhage control; medical student education; teaching evaluation; trauma.