Objective To compare post-paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) rotation performance of paediatric residents (PGY-2) and emergency residents (PGY-2) on an online test developed by the subcommittee of the paediatric section of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Also, to compare residents' performance with that of physician extenders.

Design and Settings A single centre, longitudinal, retrospective, quality improvement data review in a tertiary care, 20-bed PICU. The test was securely submitted to all residents at the end of their PICU rotation from July 2005 to June 2008. The test was also submitted to physician extenders once only during the 3-year study period.

Results The mean, paediatric residents' (N=30) score was 77.3%±10.8 (SD) and that of emergency residents (N=40) was 82.3%±8.2 (SD) at PGY-2 level (p=0.03). The combined paediatric residents' and emergency residents' mean score was 80.1%±9.7 (SD). The mean physician extenders' (N=7) score was 80.1%±6.5 (SD).

Conclusion Emergency residents performed slightly better than paediatric residents on the paediatric-focused knowledge-based online test. The physician extenders' performance was comparable to the individual resident groups' performance and their combined performance.