Twelve Tips for programmatic assessment.

Programmatic assessment is an integral approach to the design of an assessment program with the intent to optimise its learning function, its decision-making function and its curriculum quality-assurance function. Individual methods of assessment, purposefully chosen for their alignment with the curriculum outcomes and their information value for the learner, the teacher and the organisation, are seen as individual data points. The information value of these individual data points is maximised by giving feedback to the learner. There is a decoupling of assessment moment and decision moment. Intermediate and high-stakes decisions are based on multiple data points after a meaningful aggregation of information and supported by rigorous organisational procedures to ensure their dependability. Self-regulation of learning, through analysis of the assessment information and the attainment of the ensuing learning goals, is scaffolded by a mentoring system. Programmatic assessment-for-learning can be applied to any part of the training continuum, provided that the underlying learning conception is constructivist. This paper provides concrete recommendations for implementation of programmatic assessment.

Workplace-based assessment: raters' performance theories and constructs.

Weaknesses in the nature of rater judgments are generally considered to compromise the utility of workplace-based assessment (WBA). In order to gain insight into the underpinnings of rater behaviours, we investigated how raters form impressions of and make judgments on trainee performance. Using theoretical frameworks of social cognition and person perception, we explored raters' implicit performance theories, use of task-specific performance schemas and the formation of person schemas during WBA. We used think-aloud procedures and verbal protocol analysis to investigate schema-based processing by experienced (N = 18) and inexperienced (N = 16) raters (supervisor-raters in general practice residency training). Qualitative data analysis was used to explore schema content and usage. We quantitatively assessed rater idiosyncrasy in the use of performance schemas and we investigated effects of rater expertise on the use of (task-specific) performance schemas. Raters used different schemas in judging trainee performance. We developed a normative performance theory comprising seventeen inter-related performance dimensions. Levels of rater idiosyncrasy were substantial and unrelated to rater expertise. Experienced raters made significantly more use of task-specific performance schemas compared to inexperienced raters, suggesting more differentiated performance schemas in experienced raters. Most raters started to develop person schemas the moment they began to observe trainee performance. The findings further our understanding of processes underpinning judgment and decision making in WBA. Raters make and justify judgments based on personal theories and performance constructs. Raters' information processing seems to be affected by differences in rater expertise. The results of this study can help to improve rater training, the design of assessment instruments and decision making in WBA.

Workplace-based assessment: effects of rater expertise.

Traditional psychometric approaches towards assessment tend to focus exclusively on quantitative properties of assessment outcomes. This may limit more meaningful educational approaches towards workplace-based assessment (WBA). Cognition-based models of WBA argue that assessment outcomes are determined by cognitive processes by raters which are very similar to reasoning, judgment and decision making in professional domains such as medicine. The present study explores cognitive processes that underlie judgment and decision making by raters when observing performance in the clinical workplace. It specifically focuses on how differences in rating experience influence information processing by raters. Verbal protocol analysis was used to investigate how experienced and non-experienced raters select and use observational data to arrive at judgments and decisions about trainees' performance in the clinical workplace. Differences between experienced and non-experienced raters were assessed with respect to time spent on information analysis and representation of trainee performance; performance scores; and information processing--using qualitative-based quantitative analysis of verbal data. Results showed expert-novice differences in time needed for representation of trainee performance, depending on complexity of the rating task. Experts paid more attention to situation-specific cues in the assessment context and they generated (significantly) more interpretations and fewer literal descriptions of observed behaviors. There were no significant differences in rating scores. Overall, our findings seemed to be consistent with other findings on expertise research, supporting theories underlying cognition-based models of assessment in the clinical workplace. Implications for WBA are discussed.

Heart block following propofol in a child.

We present the case of a nine-year-old boy afflicted with Ondine's curse, who developed complete atrioventricular heart block after a single bolus of propofol for induction of anaesthesia for strabismus surgery. Ondine's curse, the other name for congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, is characterized by a generalized disorder of autonomic function. Propofol has no effect on the normal atrioventricular conduction system in humans but it reduces sympathetic activity and can highly potentiate other vagal stimulation factors. Heart block has been documented after propofol bolus use in adults but, to our knowledge, not in children. It would appear that propofol is not a good choice for anaesthesia in congenital central hypoventilation syndrome.

A comparison of sevoflurance to halothane in paediatric surgical patients: results of a multicentre international study.

Induction, emergence and recovery characteristics were compared during sevoflurane or halothane anaesthetic in a large (428) multicentre, international study of children undergoing elective inpatient surgical procedures. Two hundred and fourteen children in each group underwent inhalation induction with nitrous oxide/oxygen and sevoflurane or halothane. Incremental doses of either study drug were added until loss of eyelash reflex was achieved. Steady state concentrations of anaesthesia were maintained until the end of surgery when anaesthetic agents were terminated simultaneously. Time variables were recorded for induction, emergence and the first need for analgesia in the recovery room. In addition, in 86 of the children in both groups, venous blood samples were drawn for plasma fluoride levels during and after surgery. There was a trend toward smoother induction (induction of anaesthesia without coughing, breath holding, excitement laryngospasm, bronchospasm, increased secretion, and vomiting) in the sevoflurane group with faster induction (2.1 min vs 2.9 min, P = 0.037) and rapid emergence times (10.3 min vs 13.9 min, P = 0.003). Among the children given sevoflurane, 2% developed bradycardia compared with 11% in the halothane group. Postoperatively, 46% of the children in the halothane group developed nausea and or vomiting versus 31% in the sevoflurane group (P = 0.002). Two children in the halothane group developed cardiac dysrhythmia and were dropped from the study. In addition, a child in the halothane group developed malignant hyperthermia, received dantrolene, and had an uneventful recovery. Mean maximum inorganic fluoride concentration was 18.3 microM.l-1. The fluoride concentrations peaked within one h of termination of sevoflurane anaesthetic and returned rapidly to baseline within 48 h. This study suggests that sevoflurane may be the drug of choice for the anaesthetic management of children.

Neurophysiologic detection of a unilateral motor deficit occurring during the noncritical phase of scoliosis surgery.

STUDY DESIGN: A four-path neurophysiologic monitoring system was designed for spinal cord monitoring during spinal surgery. It was used mainly during scoliosis surgery. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of this technique. METHODS: Sensory and motor pathways were continuously monitored bilaterally from skin incision to awakening, with independent evaluation of the right and left pathways for each modality. RESULTS: This monitoring technique detected a transient unilateral motor deficit that occurred during the dissection phase of spinal surgery for scoliosis before any instrumentation or mobilization of the spine.

Rectal benzodiazepines for premedication in children. Review and personal experience.

Modern anesthetic techniques have modified the aims of premedication in pediatric practice. Anxiolysis, amnesia and easiness of induction are now the the main targets. This paper reviews both the literature and the personal experience of the authors on the subject. Many authors now prefer a benzodiazepine. Rectal instillation of benzodiazepine in solution avoids the trauma of the intramuscular route and produces a faster and more predictable effect, than suppositories. Diazepam (.1 to .2 mg/kg) and flunitrazepam (40 to 80 micrograms/kg) have been extensively used in this indication. Diazepam's duration of elimination being much longer than that of flunitrazepam, this last drug is preferred by many pediatric anesthetists. Midazolam (.4 to .5 mg/kg) has a much faster onset and shorter duration of action. It should thus be preferred if the environment enables the administration of premedication within 10 to 15 minutes of induction.

Use of POR-8 in the management of burned children.

In the paediatric burn unit of Brugmann University Hospital, children are treated conservatively for three weeks before excision and grafting. In order to avoid excessive bleeding during tangential excision of the granulating tissue, sub-eschar infiltration with Para-Ornithin-8-Vasopressin (POR 8), a synthetic neurohypophyseal-like hormone, has been performed since 1979 on 145 children. Bleeding is reduced dramatically by this technique. Therefore, since 1984, infiltration of the donor site with POR 8 was also performed in 25 children. Excision and grafting of areas up to 20% of total body surface are possible in one operation with a graft take rate of 95 to 100%. We didn't record any variation in heart rate. A 5 to 10% increase of arterial blood pressure occurred in all children. No general or local complications have been observed. We believe this technique to be of great help in the operative treatment of burns in children.

Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis: from reduction of mortality to reduction of morbidity.

A prospective protocol was applied from October 1978 to December 1980 to 22 newborns presenting with necrotizing enterocolitis (Stages II and III). The total mortality was 32% (7/22) with a 100% mortality in the surgical group (4/4). The prospective protocol was changed and applied to 53 newborns from January 81 to December 84, showing a decrease in total mortality: 28% (81 and 82) and 4% (1983 and 1984), with a global mortality of zero in 1983. The main changes in the protocol are: Addition of metronidazole. More precocious and radical two stages surgical procedure. Earlier diagnostic, resuscitation and transfer to the surgical department. Improvement of anaesthesia and intensive care therapy. Duration of hospital stay fell by 50%. Despite significant intestinal resections, most infants were on a normal diet by the age of one year.

Comparative value of peripheral and central venous pCO2 in predicting normal paCO2 during anaesthesia.

The ability of venous pCO2 to predict arterial pCO2 within the normal range was tested by measuring pCO2 in blood sampled simultaneously from a large forearm vein (PER), from the superior vena cava (SVC), and from an artery in 35 anaesthetized patients. The relationship between arterial and both venous pCO2's were studied in a first series of 15 patients (ASA physical status class I-II) anaesthetized with methohexitone, fentanyl, pancuronium and nitrous oxide/oxygen, and in a second series of 20 patients scheduled for cardiac surgery anaesthetized with flunitrazepam, fentanyl, pancuronium and nitrous oxide. A marked correlation was found between arterial and both venous pCO2's samples in the normal patients (a/PER: r = 0.922; a/SVC: r = 0.940); in the patients with abnormal cardiovascular status the correlation observed was less pronounced (a/PER: r = 0.501; a/SVC: r = 0.507). In view of the similar correlation coefficients observed from the PER or SVC blood sampling sites, we conclude that the degree of accuracy of the prediction of paCO2 from the venous pCO2's is not modified by the origin of the venous blood. The differences between the coefficients of correlation found in the normal patients and in those with abnormal cardiovascular function indicate that venous pCO2 as estimate of paCO2 appears useful only in subjects with normal haemodynamic status.

Fourrier analysis demonstrate EEG slowing after circulatory arrest at 20 degrees C.

The electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring in infants and children submitted to cardiac surgery under circulatory arrest (CA) and deep hypothermia (20 degrees C) (DH) is usually performed by display or record without analysis. These data disclose the reappearance of EEG activity but give no qualitative analysis of EEG recovery after CA. The electrical activity of the brain was monitored in these conditions by spectral analysis (fast Fourrier transformation with on-line processing). Spectral analysis of the EEG signal recorded during open heart surgery in nine infants and children operated under DH with, in five cases, CA is presented and discussed. The Fourrier analysis demonstrate in all patients with long CA (more than 30 min.) a spectral abnormality, namely the absence of fast activity (8-24 Hz) at least for the remainder of the operation. This abnormality was not present in operations without CA and was only transient after CA of shorter duration.

[Appendicitis in children]. / Appendicitis bij kinderen.

In 218 children of less than 16 years old appendectomy was performed. Presence of appendicitis was confirmed histologically in 199 cases. The ratio boys to girls was two to one. In one third the appendix had perforated. Administration of a combined Ampicillin-Metronidazole antimicrobial therapy, started during surgery, proved to be very efficacious in avoiding infectious complications. In this group the complication rate remained below 3%.

Induction and recovery with enflurane and halothane in paediatric anaesthesia.

One hundred and four infants and children were included in a comparative study of anesthesia with either enflurane or halothane. Induction and recovery were significantly shorter with enflurane than with halothane. There was little difference between the drugs in respect of their postoperative sequelae.