Resident Physician Case Study

Resident physicians are usually the first to see patients in most teaching institutions, and should protect themselves against infectious agents. Their knowledge of infectious agents and disease process is critical. Knowledge of EVD is not only important to residents, but to the general public as a whole. Although the 2014 West African Ebola epidemic was prevalent in the news, only 6.7% of the residents identified all of the early symptoms of EVD. Residents exhibited poor knowledge of good hygiene practices, with 58.3% believing washing hands with water or non alcohol based sanitizer is a good hygiene practice. Knowledge of any disease or condition is important. Slightly more than half (55%) of the residents recognized isolation as the first step in the management of EVD and only 16.7% answered correctly on whether PPE was required for individuals driving or riding in a car carrying human remains of EVD deceased patient. The results suggested that recent graduates from medical school did better on knowledge of average symptoms time of EVD
There was no difference in knowledge of EVD with regards to EVD and the type of medical school (International medical graduates vs U.S/Canadian graduates). There was no significant difference in post graduate year levels knowledge of EVD. No known study have addressed knowledge of EVD among resident physicians in the U.S, which limits comparison with an existing study. Recent and younger graduates had significantly better knowledge of EVD. Recent graduates are likely to be more current on evolving diseases of epidemic. They are up to date with new treatments and are likely to apply them. A systematic review evaluating the relationship between clinical experience and quality of health care showed that in terms of current standards of care and of clinical developments, younger physicians were more up to date.