Training of medical students in resuscitation at the university of Ljubljana

The Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana has been offering formal training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to its students since 1988. The CPR courses are taught mostly by anaesthesiologists. To determine whether our training programme provides the students with adequate skills and knowledge in CPR we analyzed the results of the examinations, tests, questionnaires and interviews of all students who had received CPR training at our Faculty of Medicine in 1994. We found that all the Ist year students passed the skill test immediately after the basic life support (BLS) course and that the majority of these students showed good knowledge in the written exam at the end of the year. These students were generally satisfied with the first-aid lecture course and BLS course. The 4th year lecture courses, however, were less effective because only a few of the students were present at each lecture. The 6th year students ended the advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) courses and practice in the operating theatre with both satisfactory basic theoretical knowledge and also practical skills in CPR. Thus in the oral examination at the end of the 6th year the success rate at first attempt was high, and the interviews with these students showed that they had been given the opportunities to practice airway management, breathing support and venous cannulation. These findings suggest that the education programme provides our students with both a sound basic knowledge and adequate practical skills in CPR for postgraduate training in emergency medicine.