Stanley S Liu1, Sammy Zakaria2, Dhananjay Vaidya2, Mukta C Srivastava3. 1. University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Medicine. Electronic address: stliu@medicine.umaryland.edu. 2. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine. 3. University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Medicine.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: We studied whether social media applications can serve as effective educational tools for teaching electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation to medical residents. METHODS: 39 emergency, family, and internal medicine residents participated in the 33-week "ECG of the Week" curriculum via Facebook and Twitter. ECG skill was assessed before and after the study with a 10-ECG quiz. Outcomes of interest included predictors of participant response rates and post-study quiz performance. RESULTS: ECG quiz scores were 66% and 76% on the pre- and post-study assessments respectively. High-performing participants on the pre-study quiz were more likely to have above-average response rates to ECG challenges (36% vs. 0%, p=0.015). There was no significant difference between pre- and post-study quiz scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our social media-based ECG curriculum elicited the most participation in residents who were already above-average in ECG reading ability. Future designs will need to better reach residents with below-average baseline ECG reading ability.
BACKGROUND: We studied whether social media applications can serve as effective educational tools for teaching electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation to medical residents. METHODS: 39 emergency, family, and internal medicine residents participated in the 33-week "ECG of the Week" curriculum via Facebook and Twitter. ECG skill was assessed before and after the study with a 10-ECG quiz. Outcomes of interest included predictors of participant response rates and post-study quiz performance. RESULTS: ECG quiz scores were 66% and 76% on the pre- and post-study assessments respectively. High-performing participants on the pre-study quiz were more likely to have above-average response rates to ECG challenges (36% vs. 0%, p=0.015). There was no significant difference between pre- and post-study quiz scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our social media-based ECG curriculum elicited the most participation in residents who were already above-average in ECG reading ability. Future designs will need to better reach residents with below-average baseline ECG reading ability.