RESEARCH REPORT Pediatric anesthesiology fellow education: is a simulation- based boot camp feasible and valuable? Aditee P. Ambardekar 1 , Devika Singh 2 , Justin L. Lockman 2 , David L. Rodgers 3 , Roberta L. Hales 4 , Harshad G. Gurnaney 2 , Aruna Nathan 2 & Ellen S. Deutsch 5,6 1 Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA 2 Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA 3 Clinical Simulation Center, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA 4 Center for Simulation, Advanced Education, and Innovation, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA 5 Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority and ECRI Institute, Harrisburg, PA, USA 6 Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA What is already known • Simulation-based methodologies are consistent with adult learning theory and are engaging ways to teach grad- uate medical education. Simulation-based boot camps are becoming increasingly used to onboard and enhance technical and nontechnical skills in residents and fellows in many fields of medicine. What this article adds • This submission demonstrates a feasible and well-received boot camp curriculum in pediatric anesthesiology. Keywords simulation; teamwork; skills; leadership; education; medical; graduate Correspondence Aditee P. Ambardekar, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9068, USA Email: aditee.ambardekar@utsouthwestern. edu Section Editor: Mark Thomas Accepted 28 January 2016 doi:10.1111/pan.12865 Summary Background: Pediatric anesthesiologists must manage crises in neonates and children with timely responses and limited margin for error. Teaching the range of relevant skills during a 12-month fellowship is challenging. An expe- riential simulation-based curriculum can augment acquisition of knowledge and skills. Objectives: To develop a simulation-based boot camp (BC) for novice pedi- atric anesthesiology fellows and assess learner perceptions of BC activities. We hypothesize that BC is feasible, not too basic, and well received by fel- lows. Methods: Skills stations, team-based in situ simulations, and group discus- sions of complex cases were designed. Stations were evaluated by anonymous survey; fellows rated usefulness in improving knowledge, self-confidence, technical skill, and clinical performance using a Likert scale (1 strongly dis- agree to 5 strongly agree). They were also asked if stations were too basic or too short. Median and interquartile range (IQR) data were calculated and noted as median (IQR). Results: Fellows reported the difficult airway station and simulated sce- narios improved knowledge, self-confidence, technical skill, and clinical performance. They disagreed that stations were too basic or too short with exception of the difficult airway session, which was too short [4 (4-3)]. Fellows believed the central line station improved knowledge [4 (4-3)], techni- cal skills [4 (4-4)], self-confidence [4 (4-3)], and clinical performance [4 (4-3)]; scores trended toward neutral likely because the station was perceived as too © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Pediatric Anesthesia 26 (2016) 481–487 481 Pediatric Anesthesia ISSN 1155-5645