Chen Cathy P, Clifford Bradley M, O'Leary Matthew J, Hartman Douglas J, Picarsic Jennifer L
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
UPMC Pathology Informatics, PA, USA.
J Pathol Inform. 2019 Jun 18;10:18. doi: 10.4103/jpi.jpi_15_19. eCollection 2019.
Online "e-modules" integrated into medical education may enhance traditional learning. Medical students use e-modules during clinical rotations, but these often lack histopathology correlates of diseases and minimal time is devoted to pathology teaching. To address this gap, we created pediatric pathology case-based e-modules to complement the clinical pediatric curriculum and enhance students' understanding of pediatric diseases.
Philips Tutor is an interactive web-based program in which pediatric pathology e-modules were created with pre-/post-test questions. Each e-module contains a clinical vignette, virtual microscopy, and links to additional resources. Topics were selected based on established learning objectives for pediatric clinical rotations. Pre- and post-tests were administered at the beginning/end of each rotation. Test group had access to the e-modules, but control group did not. Both groups completed the pre/post-tests. Posttest was followed by a feedback survey.
Overall, 7% (9/123) in the control group and 8% (13/164) in the test group completed both tests and were included in the analysis. Test group improved their posttest scores by about one point on a 5-point scale ( = 0.01); control group did not ( = 1.00). Students responded that test questions were helpful in assessing their knowledge of pediatric pathology (90%) and experienced relative ease of use with the technology (80%).
Students responded favorably to the new technology, but cited time constraints as a significant barrier to study participation. Access to the e-modules suggested an improved posttest score compared to the control group, but pilot data were limited by the small sample size. Incorporating pediatric case-based e-modules with anatomic and clinical pathology topics into the clinical medical education curriculum may heighten students' understanding of important diseases. Our model may serve as a pilot for other medical education platforms.
融入医学教育的在线“电子模块”可能会提升传统学习效果。医学生在临床轮转期间使用电子模块，但这些模块往往缺乏疾病的组织病理学关联，且用于病理学教学的时间极少。为弥补这一差距，我们创建了基于儿科病理学病例的电子模块，以补充儿科临床课程并增强学生对儿科疾病的理解。
飞利浦导师是一个基于网络的交互式程序，其中创建了带有课前/课后问题的儿科病理学电子模块。每个电子模块都包含一个临床病例、虚拟显微镜检查以及指向其他资源的链接。主题是根据儿科临床轮转既定的学习目标选定的。在每次轮转开始/结束时进行课前和课后测试。测试组可以使用电子模块，而对照组则不能。两组都完成了课前/课后测试。课后测试后进行了反馈调查。
总体而言，对照组中有7%（9/123），测试组中有8%（13/164）完成了两项测试并被纳入分析。测试组在5分制量表上的课后测试成绩提高了约1分（P = 0.01）；对照组没有提高（P = 1.00）。学生们表示测试问题有助于评估他们对儿科病理学的知识（90%），并且使用该技术相对轻松（80%）。
学生对新技术反应良好，但指出时间限制是参与学习的一个重大障碍。与对照组相比，使用电子模块显示课后测试成绩有所提高，但试点数据因样本量小而受到限制。将基于儿科病例的电子模块与解剖学和临床病理学主题纳入临床医学教育课程可能会增强学生对重要疾病的理解。我们的模型可作为其他医学教育平台的试点。
