Medical Emergency Management in the Dental Office (MEMDO): A Pilot Study Assessing a Simulation-Based Training Curriculum for Dentists
In the event of a medical emergency in the dental office, the dentist must be able to identify a patient in distress, assess the situation, and institute proper management. This study assessed the impact of a simulation-based medical emergency preparedness curriculum on a resident's ability to manage medical emergencies. This interventional and pre-post educational pilot study included 8 participants who completed a standard curriculum and 8 who completed a modified curriculum (N = 16). The intervention consisted of a comprehensive medical emergency preparedness curriculum that replaced lecture sessions in a standard curriculum. Participants completed performance assessments using scenario-based objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) that were recorded and evaluated by calibrated faculty reviewers using a customized scoring grid. The intervention group performed significantly better than the control group on their summative OSCEs, averaging 90.9 versus 61.2 points out of 128 (p = .0009). All participants from the intervention group passed their summative OSCE with scores >60%, while none from the control group received passing scores. Completion of a simulation-based medical emergency preparedness curriculum significantly improved resident performance during simulated medical emergencies.
Standard OSCE setup in the dental operatory. The standard OSCE setup, including a SimMan3G, emergency equipment, and red emergency manual openly available on the countertops.
OSCE scoring grid. Customized scoring grid for the STEMI OSCE scenario with 4 sections (B, C, D, E) for a total score of 128 possible points (A).
OSCE performance score distributions. Box and whisker plot depicting the distribution of OSCE scores by raw number and percentile horizontally and by group and OSCE type vertically. The boxes represent interquartile ranges with a central line for median scores labeled with their respective values. Whisker lines represent data ranges, and the circle represents an outlier. The post-MEMDO group performed significantly better than control group (p = .0009), with their score distributions lacking overlap. The control group failed to perform significantly better than the pre-MEMDO group (p = .2476), with noticeable overlap in their score distributions.
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