Integrating Geriatrics Knowledge into a Medical Student Clerkship Using Twitter Poll

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Geriatric Medicine
• Digital Health Interventions

Background:

• Geriatric knowledge is crucial for internal medicine clerkships.
• Traditional teaching methods may have limitations in engaging medical students.
• Social media platforms offer novel avenues for educational content delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of weekly Twitter Polls in improving geriatrics knowledge among third-year medical students.
• To assess the impact of a social media-based intervention on medical student learning outcomes in geriatrics.

Main Methods:

• A controlled, prospective, 2-year cohort observational study.
• Utilized Twitter Polls for weekly delivery of geriatrics questions.
• Assessed knowledge using a modified UCLA geriatric knowledge test (pre- and post-rotation).
• Data analyzed with general linear model repeated-measure design and Student t-test.

Main Results:

• Twitter Poll participants demonstrated more than double the improvement in geriatrics knowledge (p = .002) compared to non-participants.
• Significant differences in test performance were observed based on sex (p = .03), training site (p = .002), and cohort (p = .003).

Conclusions:

• Weekly Twitter Polls are an effective tool for enhancing geriatrics knowledge in medical students during internal medicine clerkships.
• This study represents the first evidence of Twitter Poll efficacy in medical education.
• Further research could explore optimizing this intervention with spaced learning and annotated answers.