Glycemic Control in Surgery Patients: A Cross-Specialty Educational Intervention for Residents

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Introduction: Glycemic control in surgical patients with diabetes is critical to their recovery. Residents play a significant role in the management of these patients and glucose control while inpatient. Surgery residents are not trained in diabetes management and there is a significant knowledge deficit of first year surgical residents with regard to perioperative and inpatient diabetes management. Methods: Together with the endocrinology team, we developed an inpatient diabetes management curriculum for incoming surgical residents. The session was incorporated into a larger 2-day intern preparation course given in anticipation of the start of residency. The course is taught by surgery attending physicians and surgical residents and is meant to prepare new interns for common problems that they will encounter on the patient floors. Results: The curriculum was highly rated by residents led to significantly greater comfort and versatility with the management of various types of insulin regimens in surgical patients. Discussion: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of a brief intervention in developing, managing and altering insulin regimens by surgical residents through a multidisciplinary approach. Our curriculum can be easily adopted for other learner groups including all other interns and medical students prior starting their clerkships. The materials created for the curriculum can be downloaded free of charge to be used by other programs.