[Learning curve of the ENT mirror examination : Goal-oriented curriculum planning for psychomotor learning]

Learning complex psychomotor sequences requires a high number of training sessions to achieve precise execution. In the current student curriculum there are only few study sessions available to achieve this level of competence.

The objective of the current study was to record the learning curve of psychomotor proficiency using the example of the ENT mirror examination. Particular focus was on the number of practice sessions needed to achieve safe execution of the examination and the learning success as assessed in partial investigations.

During a 5‑day period of their ENT block internship, students were taught and practiced the correct ENT mirror examination. At the end of each internship day, the learning progress of a total of 48 students was statistically evaluated by a checklist-based assessment.

In the full study and in the partial studies, a significant increase in points was shown over the days, which proved a growing learning curve of the students. The students required at least five training sessions (each 45 min) for safe execution (Bloom taxonomy level 3) and six training sessions for routine execution (Bloom taxonomy level 4; Nationaler kompetenzorientierter Lernzielkatalog Medizin, NKLM, level 3a).

Looking at the ENT mirror examination, an improvement in psychomotor skills was shown with an increasing number of practice sessions. This study is therefore representative as an example of resource-optimized curriculum planning based on the previously defined level of competence that students should have attained by the end of a course.