Comparison of Electronic Learning Versus Lecture-based Learning in Improving Emergency Medicine Residents' Knowledge About Mild Induced Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest

Faculty satisfaction and perception regarding emergency remote teaching : An exploratory study

Background

The COVID 19 pandemic which made its presence felt by March 2020 made the educators and administrators, both of whom had very little experience with alternate teaching and learning methods, look for alternate methods of delivering the teaching learning. Because of the mandates from apex bodies, faculty members were forced to delve into an unknown territory of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). This study aimed to explore the factors that contributed to faculty satisfaction for ERT, the challenges faced, and suggestions for improving online teaching.

Method

A modified survey tool to suit ERT was developed which demonstrated favourable preliminary factor analysis (Bartlett's Test of Sphericity (p < .001) and the Kaiser- Mayer- Olkin measure of sampling adequacy, KMO = 0.811).

Results

The EFA identified four factors, such as faculty-student interaction, faculty and IT-related, faculty training and faculty preparedness with heavy loading on faculty training, as important factors for improving faculty satisfaction for online teaching. Most of the faculty members were satisfied with the ERT. A trend of shared opinion was observed in capacity building and empowering the faculty community with full IT and course development support from the institution in the form of faculty development programmes and infrastructure development in order to equip them with emergency academic transitions.

Conclusion

The modified Survey tool was valid in identifying the faculty perceptions regarding the ERT. Faculty felt that they managed to quickly move to online teaching due to the pandemic but felt that they needed better IT support and faculty development programmes to effectively adapt to online teaching. Students, too, need to be trained for online learning, as per faculty members.

Review article: E-learning in emergency medicine: A systematic review

E-learning (EL) has been developing as a medical education resource since the arrival of the internet. The COVID-19 pandemic has minimised clinical exposure for medical trainees and forced educators to use EL to replace traditional learning (TL) resources. The aim of this review was to determine the impact of EL versus TL on emergency medicine (EM) learning outcomes of medical trainees. A systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis statement using articles sourced from CINAHL, Embase, OVID Medline and PubMed. Articles were independently reviewed by two reviewers following strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. Bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. The search yielded a total of 1586 non-duplicate studies. A total of 19 studies were included for data extraction. Fifteen of the included studies assessed knowledge gain of participants using multiple-choice questions as an outcome measure. Eleven of the 15 demonstrated no statistically significant difference while two studies favoured EL with statistical significance and two favoured TL with statistical significance. Six of the included studies assessed practical skill gain of participants. Five of the six demonstrated no statistical significance while one study favoured EL with statistical significance. This systematic review suggests that EL may be comparable to TL for the teaching of EM. The authors encourage the integration of EL as an adjunct to face-to-face teaching where possible in EM curricula; however, the overall low quality of evidence precludes definitive conclusions from being drawn.

Residency Education Reform Program in Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care: An Academic Reform Model

Background

Reform in medical education is a basic process in every academic department, especially in residency programs.

Objectives

This study was designed to assess the indices of education and research as part of the Medical Education Reform program (MERP) in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care (DACC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU) for four years.

Methods

MERP in DACC, SBMU was designed and implemented as a modern academic reform model; different outcome measures in education and research were assessed to demonstrate the effects of the reform plan in academic improvements.

Results

there were significant improvements regarding education indices (i.e., teaching methods, passing comprehensive exams, mentorship, assessment methods, faculty development, professionalism in medical education, integration in education, and crisis management) and research indices (targeted research activities, innovation in research approaches, increasing the impact of research).

Conclusions

Based on the experiences of DACC, SBMU regarding clinical anesthesiology residency, reform could be achieved using painstaking plans and continuous efforts with tangible documented outcomes. Often, the management period is not durable, and these reforms require meticulous care to sustain.

The Role of Electronic Learning in Orthopaedic Graduate Medical Training: A Consensus From Leaders in Orthopaedic Training Programs

The US orthopaedic graduate medical education system is based on long established methods in education, but academic leaders at orthopaedic institutions now have the ability to use electronic learning innovations. Hospital for Special Surgery gathered graduate medical education leaders from orthopaedic training programs around the country and an electronic learning expert to review current orthopaedic residency and fellowship program practices. This group came to consensus with the following points: (1) current training methods do not take full advantage of available technology/innovations, (2) trainees inappropriately use electronic resources in the absence of or in an underdeveloped formal electronic training program, (3) trainees learn at different rates and in different ways requiring individualized plans for optimal content engagement, and (4) formal electronic learning programs better use time dedicated to educating trainees than informal programs. Orthopaedic graduate medical training programs that adopt these points can establish an electronic learning program to complement their traditional education program by (1) guaranteeing online content is standardized and approved, (2) reducing time spent covering standard lecture material and increasing time spent reviewing cases, and (3) engaging students of all learning backgrounds with content in both asynchronous and synchronous formats.

The Role of Integrative Educational Intervention Package (Monthly ITE, Mentoring, Mocked OSCE) in Improving Successfulness for Anesthesiology Residents in the National Board Exam

BACKGROUND

National Board of Anesthesiology (NBA) pass rate is an important and critical step in clinical residency programs.

OBJECTIVES

This study was designed to assess the relationship between an integrative educational intervention (IEI) and the relative annual pass rate (RAPR). RAPR is defined as ratio of NBA pass rate of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU) to the NBA pass rate of all the anesthesiology residency programs across Iran.

METHODS

In a descriptive-analytic retrospective study from 2012 to 2019, RAPR was calculated. IEI was implanted in the latter 4years period of this time interval includes: (1) individualized mentorship for residents by faculty members; (2) monthly in-training examination (ITE) in written; and (3) periodical mocked OSCE exam. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to assess correlation between integrative educational intervention and RAPR results. P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

There was a statistically significant relationship between "integrative educational intervention program" and the RAPR results: Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.655 (P value = 0.039).

CONCLUSIONS

The IEI package of Anesthesiology Department, SBMU showed a significant relationship with improvements in successfulness for anesthesiology residents in the National Board Exam (RAPR trend). More prolonged studies could prevail further aspects of these interventions.