Indian and United States paramedic students: comparison of examination performance for the American Heart Association Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) training. 

<br/><br/>Available online from MWHC library: 1995 - present, Available in print through MWHC library:1999-2007 
<br/><br/> BACKGROUND: The American Heart Association (AHA) Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) course is taught worldwide. The ACLS course is designed for consistency, regardless of location; to our knowledge, no previous study has compared the cognitive performance of international ACLS students to those in the United States (US).  CONCLUSION: Indian paramedic students demonstrated excellent ACLS cognitive comprehension and performed at a level equivalentto their US counterparts on an AHAACLS written examination. Based on the study results, the AHA ACLS course proved effective in an international setting despite being taught in a non-native language. Copyright  2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.  METHODS: First-year paramedic students at the Emergency Management and Research Institute, Hyderabad, India, and a cohort of first-year paramedic students from the United States comprised the study population. All study participants had successfully completed the standard 2-day ACLS course, taught in English. Each student was given a 40-question standardized AHA multiple-choice examination. Examination performance was calculated and compared for statistical significance.  RESULTS: There were 117 Indian paramedic students and 43 US paramedic students enrolled in the study. The average score was 86% (+/- 11%) for the Indian students and 87% (+/- 6%) for the US students. The difference between the average examination scores was not statistically significant in an independent means t-test (p=0.508) and a Wilcoxon test (p=0.242).  STUDY OBJECTIVES: As international health educational initiatives continue to expand, an assessment of their efficacy is essential. This study assesses the AHA ACLS curriculum in an international setting by comparing performance of a cohort of US and Indian paramedic students. 
<br/><br/><br/>English 
<br/><br/><label>ISSN: </label>0736-4679 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>*Advanced Cardiac Life Support/ed [Education]<br/>*Allied Health Personnel/ed [Education]<br/>*Students<br/>Adult<br/>Allied Health Personnel/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data]<br/>Curriculum<br/>Educational Measurement<br/>Female<br/>Humans<br/>India<br/>Male<br/>Statistics, Nonparametric<br/>Students/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data]<br/>United States<br/>Young Adult
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Geographic Terms: </label><br/>MedStar Washington Hospital Center
<br/><br/><label>Index Terms--Occupation: </label><br/>Emergency Medicine
<br/><br/><label>Index Terms--Function: </label><br/>Journal Article<br/>Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't