P2.058: Assessing a Medical Education Initiative Aimed at Preparing Pediatric Trainees to Care for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Patients

Background: Pediatric physicians play a vital role in the care of deaf and hard-of-hearing patients. Few studies in graduate medical education have focused on developing curricula specifically aimed at better understanding and serving the deaf/hard-of-hearing population. Pediatric residents may have limited exposure to this topic during their training and may feel inadequately prepared to handle related concerns upon graduation. This study aims to assess knowledge and confidence of pediatric residents on topics related to the care of deaf and hard-of-hearing patients before and after an educational seminar hosted by the Delaware School for the Deaf.

Methods: This study is designed as a two-part (pre-/post-) anonymous digital survey containing multiple choice and free response items. Questions were derived in part from an existing survey instrument published in AAP’s Pediatrics by Moeller et al. (2006) with written permission from the authors. Current pediatric residents in training at Nemours Children’s (Wilmington, DE) are eligible to participate. Surveys are issued before and after a 2-hour educational seminar on topics related to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, with a focus on existing educational and legal supports available at state and national levels. The study will run March through May 2025. Statistical data analysis is conducted using Excel and PSPP software.

Results: N=50 participants responded to the pre-survey and n=19 participants responded to the post-survey with one month of data collection remaining. The median age of participants was 29 years old (range 25-34 years). Categorical pediatric residents made up 78% of the sample; the remainder were combined med-peds residents. Half of residents reported personally knowing someone who is deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Nearly all respondents (94%) rated newborn hearing screening as very important, and 76% felt confident that they could explain the process to parents and answer questions. Most were not confident in talking to parents about candidacy for cochlear implantation (90%) or medical complications of cochlear implants (92%). Most residents reported that they were not confident in explaining available communication modalities (76%), least restrictive environment (76%), models of deafness (84%), birth mandate process (94%), or language deprivation syndrome (98%).

Knowing a deaf/hard-of-hearing person was positively correlated with feeling able to explain the medical versus cultural models of deafness (r=5.8, p=0.025) and sociocultural factors surrounding cochlear implants (r=6.1, p=0.024). Nearly all respondents (95%) knew early hearing detection and intervention age guidelines after the seminar compared with 76% beforehand.

Conclusion: Curricula focused on understanding and meeting the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing patients are needed in graduate medical education. Preliminary data analysis reveals that most pediatric residents report feeling uncomfortable and unprepared to discuss issues related to severe hearing loss. Educational interventions are a promising way to improve confidence and knowledge related to deafness among pediatric trainees.