Interactive spaced education versus web based modules for teaching urology to medical students: a randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE This study is an assessment of the acceptability and short-term educational efficacy of interactive spaced education compared to web based teaching cases within the compact time frame of a clinical clerkship. MATERIALS AND METHODS All 237 third-year students completing their 3-month surgery clerkships at 2 medical schools were asked to complete a urology online-education program covering 4 core topics of benign prostatic hyperplasia, erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer and screening with prostate specific antigen. Students were stratified by clinical site and randomized to 1 of 2 cohorts. Students in cohort A received interactive spaced education on prostate cancer/prostate specific antigen and web based teaching on benign prostatic hyperplasia/erectile dysfunction. Students in cohort B received interactive spaced education on benign prostatic hyperplasia/erectile dysfunction and web based teaching on prostate cancer/prostate specific antigen. A validated 28-item test on all 4 topics was administered at the end of the 10-week program. RESULTS No statistically significant differences in end-of-program test scores were observed between cohorts in the topics of prostate cancer/prostate specific antigen with 87.6% (SD 12.9) for cohort A (interactive spaced education) and 82.4% (SD 19.6) for cohort B (web based teaching) (p = 0.25). Similarly there was also no statistically significant difference in test scores in the topics of benign prostatic hyperplasia/erectile dysfunction with 79.5% (SD 15.9) for cohort A (web based teaching) and 82.1% (SD 14.7) for cohort B (interactive spaced education, p = 0.28). When students were asked which format they would prefer if they were to receive all their urology online education in a single format, 55% of students (109 of 198 respondents) preferred interactive spaced education while 45% (89 of 109) preferred web based teaching (p = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS Within the compact time frame of a clinical clerkship interactive spaced education is equivalent to web based teaching in short-term learning gains and in acceptability by medical students.

[1]  W. DeWolf,et al.  A Multi-Institutional Randomized Controlled Trial of Adjuvant Web-Based Teaching to Medical Students , 2006, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

[2]  Kimberly A. Matzie,et al.  Spaced education improves the feedback that surgical residents give to medical students: a randomized trial. , 2009, American journal of surgery.

[3]  H. F. Spitzer.  Studies in retention. , 1939 .

[4]  Adam Dubrowski,et al.  Teaching Surgical Skills: What Kind of Practice Makes Perfect?: A Randomized, Controlled Trial , 2006, Annals of surgery.

[5]  W. DeWolf,et al.  Development and initial evaluation of a novel urology curriculum for medical students. , 2004, The Journal of urology.

[6]  Robert A. Bjork,et al.  Optimum rehearsal patterns and name learning , 1978 .

[7]  B. Kerfoot,et al.  Online spaced education to teach urology to medical students: a multi-institutional randomized trial. , 2009, American journal of surgery.

[8]  W. DeWolf,et al.  Spaced education improves the retention of clinical knowledge by medical students: a randomised controlled trial , 2007, Medical education.

[9]  P. E. Morris,et al.  Practical aspects of memory , 1980 .

[10]  W. DeWolf,et al.  Development of validated instrument to measure medical student learning in clinical urology: a step toward evidence based education. , 2004, The Journal of urology.

[11]  B Price Kerfoot,et al.  Randomized, controlled trial of spaced education to urology residents in the United States and Canada. , 2007, The Journal of urology.

[12]  Michael Fordis,et al.  Neurobehavioral Performance of Residents After Heavy Night Call Versus After Alcohol Ingestion , 2005, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

[13]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Test-Enhanced Learning , 2006, Psychological science.

[14]  Arthur I. Gates,et al.  Recitation As a Factor in Memorizing , 1917 .

[15]  W. DeWolf,et al.  The continued decline of formal urological education of medical students in the United States: does it matter? , 2006, The Journal of urology.

[16]  A. Glenberg,et al.  Spacing repetitions over 1 week , 1980, Memory & cognition.

[17]  Thomas C. Toppino,et al.  The effect of spacing repetitions on the recognition memory of young children and adults. , 1991, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[18]  Thomas Travison,et al.  Web-based education in systems-based practice: a randomized trial. , 2007, Archives of internal medicine.