Orthopedic Research Center, Ghaem hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Research Development Center, Ghaem hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
BMC Med Educ. 2021 Sep 29;21(1):515. doi: 10.1186/s12909-021-02918-y.
In COVID 19 era, the literature on e-learning, or particularly m-learning, has considerably increased focusing on the subject of medical knowledge transfer. Considering the importance of orthopedic knowledge for general practitioners and the inadequacy of the orthopedics internship duration in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS), we have developed and investigated a smartphone orthopedic educational application named "Orthobox".
In a quasi-clinical before-after trial study, we investigated the benefits of Orthobox application for medical interns attending MUMS orthopedic departments. A total of 120 students (64 and 56 students in control and case groups respectively) were recruited. The application consists of five main parts of medication, common order samples, common prescriptions, cast and splint types, and educational movies. Students who passed the course without getting access to the application (control group) and students who were also using application during the course (case group) were defined, and comparison was done between them objectively through final exam score comparison and subjectively through Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) questionnaire score comparison. Besides, using case group students' activity report provided by the application panel, correlational analysis was done on their amount of activity on each of the main parts of the application and the corresponding question exam and VAS score separately.
The case group of the study generally achieved higher final exam scores, mainly on Order question score (P value<0.001). Total VAS scores were also greater in case group (P value =0.001). It has also been identified that there is a notable positive trend between student's amount of usage of the application and their final exam scores through correlational analysis. This correlation was not significant about students' application visit numbers and VAS scores.
These results suggest that m-learning has got the potential to improve students' medical knowledge and skills by organizing must-to-learn content specified for intern students of orthopedics on one hand, and cause more satisfaction in students about their education on the other hand.
This study was not registered because it is a quasi-clinical trial study.
Level III (Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization (i.e. quasi-experimental).
在 COVID-19 时代，关于电子学习，特别是移动学习的文献大量增加，主要集中在医学知识转移的主题上。考虑到骨科知识对全科医生的重要性，以及马什哈德医科大学（MUMS）骨科实习时间的不足，我们开发并研究了一个名为“Orthobox”的智能手机骨科教育应用程序。
在一项准临床前后试验研究中，我们调查了 Orthobox 应用程序对参加 MUMS 骨科部门的医学实习生的益处。共有 120 名学生（对照组和病例组分别为 64 名和 56 名学生）被招募。该应用程序由五个主要部分组成，包括药物、常见医嘱样本、常见处方、石膏和夹板类型以及教育电影。通过最终考试成绩比较和主观的视觉模拟量表（VAS）问卷得分比较，对未经应用程序访问的课程学生（对照组）和在课程中同时使用应用程序的学生（病例组）进行了客观比较。此外，通过应用程序面板提供的病例组学生活动报告，对他们在应用程序每个主要部分的活动量以及相应的问题考试和 VAS 得分进行了相关性分析。
研究中的病例组总体上取得了更高的期末考试成绩，主要是在医嘱问题得分上（P 值<0.001）。病例组的总 VAS 得分也更高（P 值=0.001）。通过相关性分析，还发现学生使用应用程序的数量与他们的期末考试成绩之间存在显著的正相关趋势。然而，这种相关性在学生的应用程序访问次数和 VAS 得分方面并不显著。
这些结果表明，移动学习有可能通过一方面为骨科实习学生组织指定的必须学习内容，另一方面提高学生对教育的满意度，从而提高学生的医学知识和技能。
由于这是一项准临床试验研究，因此本研究未进行注册。
三级（证据来自设计良好的无随机分组的对照试验（即准实验）。
