Still Preparing to Fail by Failing to Prepare? A Survey of Trainees' Experience of and Training in Interhospital Transfers

Abstract

Interhospital transfer of critically ill patients is a task frequently delegated to doctors-in-training. However, previous studies have shown them to be ill prepared for this task, prompting the inclusion of transfer medicine as a domain in both anaesthesia and intensive care curricula, though not as yet in emergency medicine. Given the change and variation in curricula, we surveyed anaesthesia and emergency medicine trainees in the West of Scotland to gauge their experience of and training in interhospital transfers. Our results showed trainees continuing to conduct solo interhospital transfers from an early stage in their careers without specific training. Redressing this shortfall in training is imperative, particularly as centralisation of services will require more frequent transport of greater numbers of critically ill patients by trainees. We speculate about why these deficits in transfer training persist and how they might be remedied, particularly given the proposed integration of specialist transport teams in Scotland.