Athletic Training Students’ Knowledge and Skills Related to Managing Drug Overdose

Context The athletic training profession recently added curricular content standards for emergency care that included drug overdose (DO) management. There is a gap in the literature regarding pedagogy best practices for this skill. Objective To examine the knowledge and skills of athletic training students specific to drug overdose management before and after an educational intervention and a 3-month follow-up. Design Concurrent multimethod crossover (3 periods, 3 interventions) study. Setting Simulation center. Patient or Other Participants Twenty-seven athletic training students (age = 23 ± 1 years) enrolled in a professional athletic training program. Intervention(s) Participants were randomly assigned to 3 groups and engaged in an evidence-based lecture followed by simulation-based training with a debrief. All participants practiced their skills with a part-task trainer, high-fidelity manikin, and in a standardized patient (SP) encounter in varying order based on group allocation. Main Outcome Measure(s) Knowledge assessment (pre, post, final exam), skill assessment (SP encounter, final exam) and written reflection. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with nonparametric comparisons of knowledge and skills. Results We identified that athletic training students were able to build and maintain confidence in DO management. Knowledge assessment scores improved from baseline (pre = 21.93 ± 5.39), following the intervention (post = 26.22 ± 5.71) and the final exam (final = 26.70 ± 3.98). We identified a significant difference ( P ≤ .001) in the SP encounter performance by groups, with the group that participated in the part-task trainer followed by the SP encounter having the highest scores. Participants expressed that the SP encounter was the preferred simulation method among learners, despite the stress it induced, as it provided the most realistic scenario. Conclusions The multimodal intervention, regardless of group, enhanced athletic training students’ confidence, knowledge, and skills for DO management. The skill assessment findings suggest that simulation sequencing has a potential benefit.