Role of obstetric drills in the management of post-partum haemorrhage for postgraduate students of department of obstetrics and gynecology

Obstetric drills means recreating a real life clinical scenario for training/evaluation of the postgraduate students using mannequin and role play.

To know the perception of the postgraduate students in relation to obstetric drills in the management of post-partum haemorrhage; and to compare obstetric drills with traditional lecture approach in management of post-partum haemorrhage in terms of knowledge and skills.

This was a cross sectional study which was conducted in Obstetrics and gynaecology department in a tertiary care referral centre. Thirty postgraduates were divided into two groups as traditional lecture (Group 1-15 students) and obstetric drill (Group 2-15 students) on the management of post-partum haemorrhage. A pre- and post-test was conducted before and after the obstetric drills and also traditional lecture in both the groups in the form of multiple choice questions and Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) assessment. Finally, feedback survey of students was conducted to assess perceptions about two modalities of teaching. Later, the traditional lecture group was also subjected to obstetric drills.

There was no difference in the pretest results conducted in the form of multiple choice questions among both the groups. Comparison of DOPS performance showed significant difference (p=0.003) between two groups with mean marks 3.30 ± 0.9 in Group 1 and 5.10 ± 1.20 in Group 2. Significant improvement was observed in post-test compared with pre-test score in both the groups (mean difference-Group 1: 3.10 ±1.01 and Group 2: 6.60 ± 0.5), which also showed greater improvement among obstetric drill group. Among all, 70% of the Students rated obstetric drill better with regard to interest and 80% of them could understand the management better. Also 70% of them had a chance to ask questions and clear their doubts. Then 90% found it to be relevant for further practice. Onethird of the residents said it was satisfactory, for two-third of them it was highly satisfactory. Residents’ views were asset for timely management of post-partum haemorrhage (12), useful for assessing themselves, rectifying and for future practice (9), excellent method for improvement (6), wanted exposures and drills for other obstetric emergencies like management of eclampsia (3).

Obstetric drills were more effective in improving skills for management of post-partum haemorrhage when compared with traditional lecture.