experiential education – Anesthesia Guidebook

“Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Let me do and I will understand.” – Confucius

Demo-do teaching is all about “show me and I will remember.”

Demo-do is a simple process where educators outline what will be demonstrated, then demonstrate the process as it should be performed, then coach the learner through immediately practicing the technique.

Demonstration may seem like a silly thing for clinical preceptors to do with anesthesia learners. Too often, CRNAs & physician anesthesiologists expect learners to just know what to do – having completed the reading & studying ahead of time – and get to work practicing whatever skill is to be taught without getting the chance to see a demonstration. The demo-do process changes all that. By demonstrating skills, learners get to see what they’ve studied performed by an expert just prior to them being expected to perform the skill.

Check out the podcast to get the full run down on this technique that will enhance your clinical teaching and accelerate the time it takes for learners to master what you’re teaching them.

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Today I’m joined by Will Cohen to talk about clinical precepting. We discuss ways to create effective learning environments, how to expect excellence while being supportive and other tips for mastering the art of precepting.

Will created the Facebook page CRNA Preceptors and has become well known in the CRNA world for creating masterfully crafted deep dives on physiology & pharmacology to help CRNA preceptors train their resident SRNAs

William Cohen is a CRNA who currently practices at two hospitals in the Kansas City metro area. The first is the University of Kansas Health System which serves as the regional level 1 trauma & burn center. The other is the Minimally Invasive Surgical Hospital, which focuses on bariatric and orthopedic surgeries and is staffed by a CRNA-only team proficient in multimodal, opioid sparing and ultrasound guided regional anesthesia techniques.

Mr. Cohen graduated from the Our Lady of Lourdes Nurse Anesthesia Program with a Master’s degree, and had been in various clinical roles prior to entering the anesthesia environment. He has provided patient care in the pre-hospital setting as an EMT and Paramedic in Ohio and New Jersey, as well as working as a trauma critical care nurse in Atlantic City. Throughout each phase of his career, William has always taken on preceptor roles and enjoys having learners in the clinical environment.

William has a wide array of interests in healthcare, including precepting learners, human behavior during crisis and emergencies, airway management, opioid sparing anesthesia, and process improvement. Saving the best for last, William thrives on being a husband and father. His family loves to travel, as well as go mountain biking, skiing and experiencing whatever local foods and beers happen to be found along the way.

Chipas, A., Cordrey, D., Floyd, D., Grubbs, L., Miller, S., & Tyre, B. (2012). Stress: perceptions, manifestations, and coping mechanisms of student registered nurse anesthetists. AANA Journal, 80(4).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download