Effect of a review course on emergency medicine residents' self‐confidence

Objectives: Several organizations offer review courses designed to guide final‐year (postgraduate year five) residents' study for their certification examination. The effect of these courses on residents' confidence is unknown. Self‐confidence has been positively linked with examination performance. The present study measures the impact of a review course on fifth‐year emergency medicine residents' overall confidence and confidence in their: (i) knowledge and its application; (ii) planned study strategies to master the knowledge/application; and (iii) recognition that mastery of knowledge/application had been achieved. Methods: Before/after study. Over the initial 2 years, 46 postgraduate year five residents from all 12 Canadian emergency medicine programmes attended the course. They prospectively completed a pre‐/post‐course questionnaire on the above‐listed aspects of self‐confidence, for each of 22 clinical domains. A 5‐point Likert‐type scale was used for each question. Pre‐/post‐course means were compared using t‐tests for matched pairs. Results: Data were complete for 36 participants (78%). The course significantly increased residents' overall self‐confidence (mean difference 0.38, standard error of the mean [SEM] 0.06, P < 0.001), confidence in knowledge/application (mean difference 0.28, SEM 0.06, P < 0.001), in their study strategies to master knowledge/application (mean difference 0.48, SEM 0.08, P < 0.001) and in their recognition of knowledge/application mastery (mean difference 0.45, SEM 0.11, P < 0.001). Domains showing increased self‐confidence did not match domains specifically addressed in the course, suggesting that the course effects extend beyond the selected topics. Conclusions: A review course increased emergency medicine residents' self‐assessed confidence in their knowledge/application, in their study strategies and in their recognition of mastery, beyond the course specifics.