Tracking the early acquisition of skills by trainees

A form of sequential analysis has been developed to track performance of tr acheal intubation by novice intubators. One hundred and nineteen trainees c ompleted logbooks during their attachment to the Departments of Anaesthesia and these data were used to produce rates of success for sequential attemp ts at the procedure. A grid was created from this on which future trainees could report their performance. A boundary drawn on the grid can be used as a trigger to indicate the need for more basic instruction.