MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 34 house officers were enrolled in the study on joining the paediatric unit of Hospital Kulim. They were given the "Textbook of NRP" to prepare for the theory paper that consisted of 30 multiplechoice questions (MCQs). Two to four weeks later they went through a day of training on the resuscitation of the newborn using low-fidelity simulation manikins. They were taught to recognise a newborn who needed resuscitation after delivery, prepared the equipment for resuscitation and learned the skills of resuscitation. The skills included the initial steps, bag valve mask ventilation, intubation, cardiac massage, umbilical vein cannulation and use of medications. They were also taught the performance of objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) A and B. They were evaluated at 3, 6, and 9 months after the completion of their training using the MCQs and the performance checklist in the NRP textbook.

RESULTS: The results showed that there was a significant reduction in their knowledge retention as shown by their performance in multiple choice questions. Similarly, there was a significant loss of competency in their skills and competency in resuscitation using bag mask ventilation, intubation and performance of OSCE A and OSCE B. However, their performance at initial steps showed no significant reduction.