Lack of Supervision and Independent Clinical Decision Making in Postgraduate Pediatric training in Australia

Abstract

Objective: Evaluation of postgraduate pediatric training is a complex yet critical task. We aimed to review pediatric trainees’ attitudes to clinical decision-making, levels of supervision and end of life issues in a tertiary pediatric teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia. Method: A questionnaire was devised and distributed to all trainees at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. All responses were anonymous. Results were independently analyzed using SPSS statis-tical software. Results: Forty percent of trainees spent three hours or less per week face to face with more senior colleagues and 14% spent greater than 10 hours per week with more senior colleagues. Seventy-five percent of trainees spent three hours or less on the phone with more senior colleagues while 10% spent five hours or more on the phone with more senior colleagues. There was no association (or correlation) (p>0.05) between seniority of trainee and the number of times a trainee met face to face or phoned a more senior colleague to discuss a management plan. One in three trainees felt that they made less than 10% of clinical decisions on their own and 54% felt that they made less than half of decisions on their own. There was a statistically significant difference between seniority of training and the percentage of important clinical decisions made (p