An Investigation of the Field Trip Model as a Method for Teaching Breastfeeding to Pediatric Residents

Abstract

Pediatricians in training are underexposed to breastfeeding issues and as a result are not fully prepared to promote breastfeeding and support the breastfeeding mother. This study is a pre-post evaluation of the effectiveness of a pilot breastfeeding curriculum. Using the “field trip model,” pediatric residents participated in 4 half-day teaching sessions at community sites, including a visit to a La Leche League home meeting, a Kaiser lactation consultant clinic, hospital-based lactation rounds, and a children’s hospital-based referral clinic. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this curriculum using a modified version of a previously published questionnaire that assesses knowledge about (70 items), attitude toward (6 items), and experience with breastfeeding (11 items). Residents enrolled in the field trip model of breastfeeding instruction exhibited significant increases in attitude and experience scores and self-reported high levels of satisfaction compared to controls.