Commentaries on health services research

Because adequate staffi ng in ICUs is an increasing problem worldwide, the authors investigated whether PAs are able to substitute for medical residents in ICUs with at least the same quality of clinical skills. They compared PAs level of clinical skills with those of medical residents with 6 to 24 months of work experience in the ICU. Two scenarios involving a human patient simulator and typical ICU cases were used to compare PAs and residents practicing in the Netherlands. The 11 PAs and 10 residents in the study were videotaped and their level of clinical skills scored with predefi ned checklists by two independent intensivists. Total scores were calculated as percentages and means were compared by student t-test. PAs and residents scored equally well (PAs, 66% 13%; residents, 68% 9%, P = .86) on their clinical performance in the simulated ICU setting.