Objective: Endotracheal intubation and spinal anesthesia are essential skills required for each medical student. This study was conducted to assess the confidence and accuracy of medical students in performing these two procedures as well as to evaluate how many cases they require in order to achieve an adequate level of confidence.
Material and Method: After performing either endotracheal intubation or spinal anesthesia in patients under supervision, medical students completed a checklist related to their confidence while their supervisors completed a checklist concerning their procedure accuracy.
Results: One hundred and fifty-five endotracheal intubation questionnaire and 124 spinal anesthesia questionnaires were filled in. The majority of the medical students had moderate to maximal level of confidence in performing each step of endotracheal intubation and spinal anesthesia. From the staff’s point of view, the majority of the medical students performed each step of endotracheal intubation and spinal anesthesia correctly. The medical students perceived that they required the performance of 10 endo- tracheal intubations and 10 spinal anesthesia procedures in order to reach an adequate level of confidence.
Conclusion: This study draws an attention to the need to increase the time and materials for medical students to practice endotracheal intubation and spinal anesthesia to a level that they will be sufficiency confident.