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Resident acquisition of knowledge during a noontime conference series
Anne Picciano1, Robin Winter, Douglas Ballan
1JFK Family Practice Residency Program, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Edison, NJ 08818, USA. apicciano@solarishs.org
Background And Objectives:
Noontime conferences are widely used in family practice residencies. This study determined the effectiveness of noontime conferences for increasing residents' knowledge.
Methods:
Twenty residents were tested monthly over 6 months and then cumulatively on the content of noontime conferences.
Results:
Monthly test scores of attendees versus nonattendees were compared using a two-sample, two-tail t test. Results revealed the mean score of attendees for short-term knowledge to be 12.1 points higher than nonattendees. There was no correlation, however, between conference attendance and long-term knowledge retention.
Conclusions:
Our findings indicate a lack of correlation between noontime conference attendance and long-term cumulative test scores. The results question the value of noontime conferences as a teaching method.