Problems and potentialities of e-Learning for regular undergraduate courses in emergency medicine

• Autor(a) principal: Schlinkert,William Rafaelo
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Scarpelini,Sandro, Pazin-Filho,Antonio
• Tipo de documento: Relatório
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Educação Médica (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-55022010000300016
• topic: Medical Education; Learning; Emergency Medicine

BACKGROUND: E-learning techniques are spreading at great speed in medicine, raising concerns about the impact of adopting them. Websites especially designed to host courses are becoming more common. There is a lack of evidence that these systems could enhance student knowledge acquisition. GOAL: To evaluate the impact of using dedicated-website tools over cognition of medical students exposed to a first-aid course. METHODS: Prospective study of 184 medical students exposed to a twenty-hour first-aid course. We generated a dedicated-website with several sections (lectures, additional reading material, video and multiple choice exercises). We constructed variables expressing the student's access to each section. The evaluation was composed of fifty multiple-choice tests, based on clinical problems. We used multiple linear regression to adjust for potential confounders. RESULTS: There was no association of website intensity of exposure and the outcome - beta-coeficient 0.27 (95%CI - 0.454 - 1.004). These findings were not altered after adjustment for potential confounders - 0.165 (95%CI -0.628 - 0.960). CONCLUSION: A dedicated website with passive and active capabilities for aiding in person learning had not shown association with a better outcome.