First aid and basic life support skills training early in the medical curriculum: Curriculum issues, outcomes, and confidence of students

Background. The importance of training physicians and other health care pro fessionals in first aid and basic life support (BLS) is now widely recogniz ed. The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the United Arab Emirates University have been offering formal training in these skills to 1st-year medical students since 1989. The aim of this study was to determine the eff icacy of the program and the extent to which it provides students with conf idence to perform skills on their own after training. Description: 165 of 180 male and female students comprising 3 cohorts (91.7 % response rate) completed a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaire contained open-ended and Likert-type questions regarding cou rse organization, content, strengths and weaknesses, teaching-learning appr oaches, and skills development and confidence. The authors analyzed assessm ent outcomes and associations between self-perceived levels of confidence a nd ability to practice. Evaluation: Students were uniformly enthusiastic and highly motivated by th e program. Self-assessed confidence in ability to perform skills on their o wn after completing the program was moderately correlated with perceived fr equency of opportunity to practice many skills. There was nevertheless a co nsistent desire for more practice time. Conclusions: The results suggest that the program provides students with so und basic knowledge and adequate practical skills in first aid and BLS and that adequacy of time and physical and human resources are important prereq uisites to facilitate practice and engender confidence in skills.