Abstract
BackgroundThe concept of e-Learning has been rapidly accepted as an important component of medical education and is especially adept at teaching clinical skills. However, their impact on learning, particularly in Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) medical school curriculum, has yet to be adequately explored. The aim of this pilot study is to develop interactive e-Learning resources and evaluate their impact in enhancing OHNS teaching in medical school.MethodsThis pilot study is a randomized controlled trial assessing the effectiveness of e-Learning resources in enhancing the current traditional lecture and tutorial-based teaching of OHNS in medical school. Nineteen final-year medical students from the University of Sydney were recruited for this study, who were randomly allocated into intervention group with additional e-Learning resources (Group A) and control group (Group B). Student knowledge was assessed through objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) with use of standardized forms for objective scoring. Assessors were blinded to student randomization status. A post-study questionnaire was distributed to assess student feedback on the e-Learning resources.ResultsEight students were allocated to Group A and 11 students to Group B. Group A performed significantly better than Group B in the overall examination scores (78.50 ± 13.88 v. 55.82 ± 8.23; P = < 0.01). With the minimum pass mark of 65%, the majority of students in Group A was able to pass the OSCE assessments, while the majority of students in Group B failed (87.50% v. 9.10%; P = 0.01). The post-test questionnaire on the e-Learning resources showed very favorable feedback from the students’ perspective.ConclusionResults from our pilot study suggests that the use of interactive online e-Learning resources can be a valuable adjunct in supplementing OHNS teaching in medical school, as they are readily accessible and allow flexible on-demand learning. Future studies involving large numbers of medical students are needed to validate these results.
Highlights
The concept of e-Learning has been rapidly accepted as an important component of medical education and is especially adept at teaching clinical skills
Clinical presentations related to otolaryngology head and neck surgery (OHNS) are common, comprising of > 20% of all presentations in the primary care setting [9,10,11]
To supplement the teaching syllabus, interactive e-Learning teaching resources were designed by the authors, which focused on the Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) clinical examination skills that had been previously taught to the students via traditional methods
Summary
The concept of e-Learning has been rapidly accepted as an important component of medical education and is especially adept at teaching clinical skills Their impact on learning, in Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) medical school curriculum, has yet to be adequately explored. Studies have reported poor basic knowledge and exposure to OHNS in the medical school and primary care settings, demonstrating a mismatch between this educational need and the current medical curriculum [12,13,14] This mismatch may contribute to diagnostic errors, which account for approximately 14% of negligent adverse events in hospitalized patients [15, 16]
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