Breastfeeding Education in the Time of COVID-19

Breastfeeding Education in the Time of COVID-19. Hybrid Telesimulation With Standardized Patients for Pediatric and Family Medicine Trainees, a Randomized Trial

This project will establish that pediatric and family medicine residents who complete a hybrid breastfeeding medicine curriculum that includes an asynchronous unfolding case scenario along with telesimulation with a standardized patient (SP) will provide timely, skilled lactation support more frequently than residents randomized to an asynchronous unfolding case scenario followed by videoconference group discussion regarding care for the breastfeeding dyad.

Establish that pediatric and family medicine residents who complete a novel breastfeeding medicine curriculum that includes an online unfolding case scenario along with telemedicine simulation with a standardized patient (SP) will provide timely, skilled lactation support more frequently than residents randomized to an online unfolding case scenario followed by traditional didactic breastfeeding case-presentation via videoconference. Establish that online learning via unfolding case scenario and telemedicine simulation with a SP will be feasible for family medicine and pediatric residents to complete during their newborn nursery rotation. Intern and third year residents completing their newborn nursery rotation at UC Davis Medical Center will be cluster-randomized by rotation month to receipt of breastfeeding education via telesimulation with standardized patient or traditional case-based learning via videoconferencing with pediatric faculty. The primary outcome of this study will be the translation of clinical lactation skills to the care of breastfeeding mothers and newborns. I hypothesize that pediatric and family medicine residents randomized to complete the telesimulation with SP will translate their acquired clinical lactation skills to the care of breastfeeding mothers and newborns at a greater rate than residents who complete a videoconference case-based traditional curriculum discussion with a newborn nursery pediatrician.

This is a prospective cluster randomized controlled trial of a novel educational intervention in pediatric and family medicine residents during the nursery rotation. In this study, we will enroll 1st year pediatric and family medicine residents and 3rd year supervising pediatric residents on their newborn nursery 4-week rotation and randomization will occur clustered by rotation month. The educational intervention will be conducted during the first week of the rotation. Both groups will complete pre-intervention survey that collects demographic information, personal infant feeding experiences, and any breastfeeding medicine experience. All participants will be invited to complete a free online course (Lactation Support in a Telehealth Setting Course) prior to the telemedicine intervention or control group discussion with the clinical pediatrician.

Participants in the control group will complete an online unfolding case scenario. Then these same participants will participate in a videoconferencing case based lecture with the academic pediatric fellow

Participants in the intervention group will complete an online unfolding case scenario. Then these participants will complete a telesimulation case with a standardized patient via video conferencing.

Breastfeeding medicine practice patterns of physician residents will be assessed at enrollment and following the intervention/control. Physician resident participants will complete a survey querying the number of times they have counseled patients about breastfeeding, the number of breast examinations performed, the number of witnessed breastfeeding sessions, and any experience with counseling about manual expression of breast milk.

Physician residents (participants) will fill out a survey about their breastfeeding counseling self efficacy prior to and after the intervention.

Physician residents (participants) will fill out a survey about their satisfaction with the breast feeding medicine curriculum after the educational intervention.

Inclusion Criteria: Pediatric and Family Medicine resident physicians at UC Davis Medical Center Exclusion criteria: Individuals who are unable to communicate in English, Individuals who do not have access to videoconferencing via computer or phone.