Computer-assisted teaching of epistaxis management: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Skills Training

Background:

• Effective instruction of technical skills is crucial for novice medical trainees.
• Traditional text-based learning may not be optimal for procedural skill acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of computer-assisted learning (CAL) versus text-based instruction for teaching nasal packing techniques.
• To compare student preference for CAL versus text-based learning modules.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, blinded, randomized-controlled trial involving 47 first-year medical students.
• Students were randomized to receive instruction on nasal packing via CAL or text-based articles.
• Skill assessment used standardized subjective and objective measures, evaluated by blinded otolaryngologists before and after instruction.

Main Results:

• Both groups showed improved nasal packing skills post-training.
• CAL learners demonstrated significantly greater improvement in overall skill and checklist performance for both techniques (P < .001).
• 94.6% of students preferred CAL over text-based learning materials.

Conclusions:

• Computer-assisted learning (CAL) is a more effective method for teaching technical procedural skills to novice medical trainees than traditional text-based instruction.
• CAL leads to superior objective and subjective skill improvements.
• Student preference strongly favors CAL for acquiring procedural knowledge.