Search

Background: Residents are at the forefront of student education in the hospital, yet valid tools to assess their performance as teachers are lacking. Aims: To develop a valid evaluation tool for assessing resident performance as educators for clerkship students. Method: A mixed-methods design was used. Focus groups of residents and medical students explored desired behaviors in resident educators. Using grounded theory, a list of behaviors was generated inductively through iterative review and categorized into themes. After thematic saturation, behaviors were rated on a Likert scale by stakeholders based on 'importance' and 'accuracy of measurement.' Items which were both important and accurate were used in the final tool. Results: Eighty-five desirable behaviors for resident educators were identified and consolidated into a 14-item tool. Twenty met both 'importance' and 'accuracy' criteria and fell under themes of respect, safe environment, balancing supervision with autonomy, relevant teaching and feedback. Nineteen 'important' behaviors deemed not accurately measurable fell under themes of professionalism, communication, management skills and leadership. Conclusions: Evaluation of residents as teachers and development of resident-as-teacher curricula should emphasize aforementioned areas. Professionalism and organizational skills may not be measurable reliably by learners. Complementary tools to assess these aspects of resident performance are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the outcomes of pediatric renal transplant recipients who received immunosuppression consisting of early withdrawal of corticosteroids at a single Northern California center. Protocols using minimal steroid exposure have been recently reported in adult transplant recipients with successful results. We examined the outcomes of pediatric renal transplant recipients who were managed at our center using a protocol with very early discontinuation of steroids after renal transplantation. We retrospectively studied the medical records of all renal transplant recipients followed at the Children’s Hospital at the University of California, Davis Medical Center from 01/2004 to 12/2005. All patients were less than 18 yr of age at the time of transplantation. The immunosuppressive protocol included three tapering daily doses of methylprednisolone, together with five doses of thymoglobulin followed by maintenance therapy with tacrolimus and MMF. Eight patients with equal numbers of males and females were transplanted during this time period. There were equal numbers of Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. A total of 37.5% (3/8) of the subjects received preemptive transplantation, 25% (2/8) received peritoneal, and 37.5% (3/8) received hemodialysis before transplantation. The median (range) age at transplantation was 12.3 (3.1–16.0) year with a follow-up of 1.7 (0.9–2.8) year. At one yr post-transplantation, 57% (4/7) of patients still required anti-hypertensives. Three children required erythropoietin supplementation after transplantation. The mean delta height standard deviation score at 12 months was 0.20 ± 0.56. There were no episodes of clinical acute rejection. One patient switched from tacrolimus to sirolimus due to biopsy-proven CAN. No patient became diabetic or required hypoglycemic agents. Surveillance biopsies showed no subclinical acute rejection in any patient. Steroid-free immunosuppression is safe in children after renal transplantation. Larger number of patients and longer follow-up are required to further confirm the effectiveness and safety of immunosuppression with rapid steroid discontinuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Corticosteroids are an important contributor to posttransplant hyperlipidemia. Since 2004, we have used a steroid minimization immunosuppression protocol. This study investigated the effect of steroid minimization on dyslipidemia in pediatric renal allograft recipients., Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: Children (<18 years) who underwent renal transplants at our center from January 2001 to January 2008 were studied. Data analyzed included age, gender, race, body mass index, cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and steroid dose. Data between the cohorts receiving maintenance steroids and steroid-minimization were compared using multivariable analyses. The primary outcome measures were the prevalence of, and the effect of steroid use, on dyslipidemia., Results: Twenty-nine patients were studied. Sixteen were receiving maintenance steroids, and 13 were on a steroid minimization regimen. Mixed effects analysis of covariance models demonstrated that at 1 month, children receiving maintenance steroids had higher cholesterol compared with the steroid minimization group. Statistically significant differences in total cholesterol were not seen at other time points. Similar findings were noted for the LDL cholesterol, LDL/HDL, and cholesterol/HDL ratios. At 1 month, the serum HDL cholesterol was substantially lower in the steroid minimization group. Differences in the HDL cholesterol levels remained significant throughout the first year., Conclusions: Steroid use is a significant independent risk factor for hypercholesterolemia during the first post-transplant month. The significance of lower HDL cholesterol among patients receiving steroid minimization needs further study and may be cause for concern.

Background: With improvements in technology, renal biopsies have become safer and could potentially be effectively carried out in the outpatient setting. The purpose of our study is to compare the safety and cost of performing outpatient versus inpatient renal biopsies at a single Northern California pediatric hospital., Methods: We retrospectively studied the records of patients who underwent renal biopsy at our hospital during the period June 2001 to June 2006. Patients who were admitted to the hospital were compared with those who underwent biopsy as outpatients and were observed postprocedure for 4 hours for complications., Results: 54 patients underwent 60 biopsies as inpatients and 58 patients underwent 78 biopsies as outpatients. Two inpatients required intervention for bleeding. One patient in the outpatient group was readmitted for persistent gross hematuria that subsided without intervention, and another patient had an inadequate sample obtained. Considering physician, nursing and ancillary hospital charges for the inpatient stay, the difference in cost was US $4,133 per procedure., Conclusions: Our study suggests that discharging patients after a 4-hour monitoring period is a safe practice in a select group of patients. This practice has profound financial advantages by reducing health care costs and potentially improves patient satisfaction.