T Succar1, G Zebington, F Billson, K Byth, S Barrie, P McCluskey, J Grigg. 1. 1] Save Sight Institute, Discipline of Ophthalmology, Sydney Medical School, Sydney Eye Hospital Campus, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia [2] Medical Education Unit, School of Medicine, The University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract
AIM: The Virtual Ophthalmology Clinic (VOC) is an interactive web-based teaching module, with special emphasis on history taking and clinical reasoning skills. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of VOC on medical students' learning. METHODS: A randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted with medical students from the University of Sydney (n=188) who were randomly assigned into either an experimental (n=93) or a control group (n=95). A pre- and post-test and student satisfaction questionnaire were administered. Twelve months later a follow-up test was conducted to determine the long-term retention rate of graduates. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant (P<0.001) within-subject improvement pre- to post rotation in the number of correctly answered questions for both the control and experimental groups (mean improvement for control 10%, 95% CI 1.3-2.6, and for experimental 17.5%, 95% CI 3.0-4.0). The improvement was significantly greater in the experimental group (mean difference in improvement between groups 7.5%, 95% CI 0.8-2.3, P<0.001). At 12 months follow-up testing, the experimental group scored on average 1.6 (8%) (95%CI 0.4 to 2.7, P=0.007) higher than the controls. CONCLUSION: On the basis of a statistically significant improvement in academic performance and highly positive student feedback, the implementation of VOC may provide a means to address challenges to ophthalmic learning outcomes in an already crowded medical curriculum.
RCT Entities:
AIM: The Virtual Ophthalmology Clinic (VOC) is an interactive web-based teaching module, with special emphasis on history taking and clinical reasoning skills. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of VOC on medical students' learning. METHODS: A randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted with medical students from the University of Sydney (n=188) who were randomly assigned into either an experimental (n=93) or a control group (n=95). A pre- and post-test and student satisfaction questionnaire were administered. Twelve months later a follow-up test was conducted to determine the long-term retention rate of graduates. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant (P<0.001) within-subject improvement pre- to post rotation in the number of correctly answered questions for both the control and experimental groups (mean improvement for control 10%, 95% CI 1.3-2.6, and for experimental 17.5%, 95% CI 3.0-4.0). The improvement was significantly greater in the experimental group (mean difference in improvement between groups 7.5%, 95% CI 0.8-2.3, P<0.001). At 12 months follow-up testing, the experimental group scored on average 1.6 (8%) (95%CI 0.4 to 2.7, P=0.007) higher than the controls. CONCLUSION: On the basis of a statistically significant improvement in academic performance and highly positive student feedback, the implementation of VOC may provide a means to address challenges to ophthalmic learning outcomes in an already crowded medical curriculum.
Authors: Tala Al-Khaled; Luis Acaba-Berrocal; Emily Cole; Daniel S W Ting; Michael F Chiang; R V Paul Chan Journal: Asia Pac J Ophthalmol (Phila) Date: 2022-05-01
Authors: Eve M R Bowers; Brittany Perzia; Rikki Enzor; Owen Clinger; Sanya Yadav; Patrick W Commiskey; Peter Mortensen; Evan Waxman Journal: MedEdPORTAL Date: 2021-02-12
Authors: Eleanor Burton; Lama Assi; Hursuong Vongsachang; Bonnielin K Swenor; Divya Srikumaran; Fasika A Woreta; Thomas V Johnson Journal: BMC Med Educ Date: 2022-03-04 Impact factor: 2.463