Pediatric emergency medicine asynchronous e-learning: a multicenter randomized controlled Solomon four-group study.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Digital Learning
• Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Asynchronous e-learning offers targeted education, especially when traditional methods are limited.
• Its effectiveness across multiple institutions in clinical rotations remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an asynchronous e-learning curriculum on medical knowledge in pediatric emergency medicine rotations.
• To assess its efficacy across multiple pediatric centers.

Main Methods:

• A Solomon four-group randomized design was employed across four pediatric centers (2012-2013).
• Participants received either asynchronous e-learning modules or standard education.
• Knowledge was assessed via postrotation testing and in-training examination (ITE) scores.

Main Results:

• Asynchronous e-learning significantly improved posttest scores (p < 0.001) with a large effect size (partial η(2) = 0.19).
• Posttest scores correlated with in-training examination scores among residents (r(2) = 0.14, p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• Asynchronous e-learning is an effective tool for enhancing medical knowledge in clinical rotations.
• This modality can standardize education across institutions, overcoming limitations of in-hospital learning.