A Scoping Review and Appraisal of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Education Literature

BACKGROUND: Despite a recent rise in publications describing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) education, the scope and quality of ECMO educational research and curricular assessments have not previously been evaluated. OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study are 1) to categorize published ECMO educational scholarship according to Bloom’s educational domains, learner groups, and content delivery methods; 2) to assess ECMO educational scholarship quality; and 3) to identify areas of focus for future curricular development and educational research. METHODS: A multidisciplinary research team conducted a scoping review of ECMO literature published between January 2009 and October 2021 using established frameworks. The Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) was applied to assess quality. RESULTS: A total of 1,028 references were retrieved; 36 were selected for review. ECMO education studies frequently targeted the cognitive domain (78%), with 17% of studies targeting the psychomotor domain alone and 33% of studies targeting combinations of the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains. Thirty-three studies qualified for MERSQI scoring, with a median score of 11 (interquartile range, 4; possible range, 5–18). Simulation-based training was used in 97%, with 50% of studies targeting physicians and one other discipline. CONCLUSION: ECMO education frequently incorporates simulation and spans all domains of Bloom’s taxonomy. Overall, MERSQI scores for ECMO education studies are similar to those for other simulation-based medical education studies. However, developing assessment tools with multisource validity evidence and conducting multienvironment studies would strengthen future work. The creation of a collaborative ECMO educational network would increase standardization and reproducibility in ECMO training, ultimately improving patient outcomes.