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Systematic review of e-learning for surgical training.
H Maertens1, A Madani2, T Landry3
1Department of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. heidi.maertens@ugent.be.
The British Journal of Surgery
|August 19, 2016
Summary
E-learning platforms are effective for surgical training, showing similar or greater effectiveness compared to no intervention or traditional methods. This supports their role in medical education for various surgical skills.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Surgical Training
- Digital Learning Technologies
Background:
- E-learning platforms are increasingly used in medical education.
- Evidence supporting their effectiveness in surgical training is limited.
- This study evaluates e-learning's efficacy in surgical skill acquisition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the effectiveness of e-learning for surgical training.
- To compare e-learning with no intervention and other training methods.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of bibliographical databases up to August 2015.
- Included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing e-learning for surgical skills.
- Compared e-learning against no intervention or alternative training approaches.
Main Results:
- 87 RCTs involving 7871 participants (students, trainees, surgeons, nurses) were included.
- E-learning effectively taught cognitive, psychomotor, and non-technical skills using diverse features.
- E-learning demonstrated equal or greater effectiveness than no intervention and non-e-learning methods.
Conclusions:
- E-learning is a viable and effective tool for surgical training.
- It is at least as effective as traditional training methods.
- Despite platform heterogeneity, e-learning offers comparable or superior outcomes.
