(image: flickrCC) Do protocols make trainees' brains go soft? That's the assertion of more than a few crusty hard-liners who miss the good old days -- when you got 2-liter tidal volumes for your ARDS and liked it, dad-gum-it!! Prasad et al can't say whether critical care fellows can actually run ventilators in the post-protocol age ... but they do test well, apparently. Authors cleverly linked performance on the mechanical ventilation questions on the ABIM critical care boards to whether the test-taking fellow came from a program with ventilator protocols in place. They even tried to find a dose-response relationship, according to a program's number of extant protocols. (Interestingly, 31% of 88 programs reported using no protocols at all.)
Fellows: This is your brain on protocols
Fellows: This is your brain on protocols
Fellows: This is your brain on protocols
(image: flickrCC) Do protocols make trainees' brains go soft? That's the assertion of more than a few crusty hard-liners who miss the good old days -- when you got 2-liter tidal volumes for your ARDS and liked it, dad-gum-it!! Prasad et al can't say whether critical care fellows can actually run ventilators in the post-protocol age ... but they do test well, apparently. Authors cleverly linked performance on the mechanical ventilation questions on the ABIM critical care boards to whether the test-taking fellow came from a program with ventilator protocols in place. They even tried to find a dose-response relationship, according to a program's number of extant protocols. (Interestingly, 31% of 88 programs reported using no protocols at all.)