Anesthesia training: Are we doing enough in three years? Cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: The minimum number of procedures required to be performed during anesthesia training has not been officially defined in Colombia. Although a number is no guarantee of acquired competencies, it does indicate the level of opportunity offered by the different programs. This study describes the practical training afforded to residents in a graduate anesthesia program in Colombia, and compares its results with international standards. Objective: Describe exposure to procedures performed by residents enrolled in a three-year anesthesia specialization program in Colombia between 2015 and 2020, and compare with the standards proposed by ASCOFAME and ACGME. Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study which included residents who did their specialization in a Colombian anesthesia program between 2015 and 2020. Complexity, anesthesia techniques, invasive monitoring and airway approach were described. Finally a descriptive comparison was made with the published references of the Colombian Association of Medical Schools (ASCOFAME) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Results: The results for 10 residents were included. Each resident had a median of 978 cases (IQR 942-1120), corresponding to 25 surgical specialties, the most frequent being general surgery (18%), orthopedics (16%), pediatric surgery (19%), and obstetrics (10.8%). According to the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) classification, the majority of patients were ASA II (39.63%) and ASA III (28.4%). Adequate exposure was achieved in 11 of the 15 categories proposed by ACGME and in 6 of the 15 proposed by ASCOFAME. Conclusions: A detailed description of the practice component acquired by the residents during their three years of training was obtained. This baseline provides insight into the national landscape and allows to describe the relationship with international standards.