Web-based teaching in point-of-care ultrasound: an alternative to the classroom?

Tarina Lee Kang,1 Kristin Berona,1 Marsha A Elkhunovich,2 Roberto Medero-Colon,1 Dina Seif,1 Mikael L Chilstrom,1 Tom Mailhot1 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Los Angeles County and the University of Southern California (LAC + USC) Medical Center, 2Department of Emergency Medicine, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA Objectives: To evaluate two educational methods for point-of-care ultrasound (POC US) in order to: 1) determine participant test performance and attitudes in using POC US and 2) compare cost and preparation time to run the courses.Methods: This was a pilot study conducted at a county teaching hospital. Subjects were assigned to participate in either a large group course with live classroom lectures (Group A) or a group asked to watch 4.5 hours of online prerecorded lectures (Group B). Both groups participated in small-group hands-on training after watching the lectures. Both groups took a pre- and post-course exam, and completed course surveys. Cost and time spent running the courses were also compared.Results: Forty-seven physicians participated in the study. The pre-test and post-test scores between the two groups did not differ significantly. Of those with prior ultrasound experience, the majority of both groups preferred to continue classroom-based teaching for future courses. Interestingly, in the groups who had no ultrasound experience prior to their course participation, there was a higher percentage who preferred web-based teaching. Lastly, Group B was shown to have the potential to take less preparatory time when compared to Group A.Conclusion: A web-based curriculum in POC US appears to be a promising and potentially time saving alternative to live classroom lectures and seems to offer similar educational benefits for the postgraduate learner. Keywords: attending education, classroom-based teaching, hands-on trainin