SAT-868 - Insulin Pump Club: An Innovative Curriculum Pilot for Adult Endocrinology Fellows

Diabetes technology has rapidly advanced in the past two decades, allowing for more individualized care for those living with diabetes. The rapidity of change, volume of new information and proprietary algorithms have made staying updated a challenge for busy endocrinologists. Additionally, educational efforts and curriculums focused on diabetes technology are lacking and often outdated by the time they are in real use.
We aimed to increase the knowledge and skill level of endocrinology fellows surrounding diabetes technologies through the development of a structured, longitudinal curriculum utilizing Kern’s six-step approach.
Endocrinology fellows were invited to complete a survey prior to implementation, serving as a targeted needs assessment in the curriculum development process. The survey related to their experience, comfort, and perceived education needs with insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors. Additional follow up survey is planned after implementation to assess self-reported learner outcomes consistent with Kirkpatrick Level 1 and Level 2 educational evaluation.
Three first-year endocrinology fellows completed the survey. All fellows strongly agreed that it was important for endocrinologists to have a strong understanding of insulin pumps and that they would benefit from additional educational sessions dedicated to diabetes technology. They felt that the sessions should focus on insulin pumps rather than continuous glucose monitors. The only perceived barrier by all was a general lack of time and resources. Prior to implementation, the fellows felt least comfortable with interpreting iLet pump data and the most comfortable with the Omnipod pump data. They also reported low comfort with practical aspects of pumps, counseling about benefits and limitations of pumps, infusion set logistics, determining new pump settings, and pump use in pregnancy.
The curriculum is based on adult learning principles, specifically case based, experiential learning using fellow submitted cases of real-world clinic scenarios. Insulin Pump Club consisted of 7 optional educational sessions throughout the academic year for adult endocrinology fellows. An introductory session included an overview of insulin pumps by a faculty endocrinologist and a discussion of patient pump education process with a diabetes educator. Five subsequent sessions involved inviting industry representatives from each of the insulin pump companies to present information about their specific technology and proprietary algorithm, which was followed by review of fellow-submitted patient cases. A final session presented by endocrinology faculty will review special insulin pump scenarios.
Here we present a novel, longitudinal diabetes technology curriculum for adult endocrinology fellows that leverages industry expertise to address a nationally and locally identified gap in fellow education.

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