The broad, long-term objective of this proposal is to ensure that the efficacy of thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke patients demonstrated in randomized, academic-center trials can be translated to effectiveness at community hospitals. The health- related goal is the safe treatment of the more than 500,000 new acute stroke patients in the United States each year.
The specific aims are to (1) develop a curriculum to teach cranial computed tomography (CT) scan interpretation, (2) develop a computer-based practice program to assist training in cranial CT scan interpretation, and (3) to test the hypothesis that a brief training intervention can improve physician ability to interpret cranial CT scans of acute stroke patients. The design of this project is a prospective interventional trial with before-after tests. The methods will include testing a stratified, convenience sample of general radiologists, neurologists, and emergency physicians on cranial CT scan interpretation before and after a training intervention. The curriculum for the intervention is based on perceptual learning and will include both a didactic and a computer-based practice session. Before and after tests of equivalent difficulty will be designed.
