[Assessment of an e‑learning platform for dermatosurgery]

Area of Science:

• Dermatology and Surgical Education
• Medical E-learning Platforms
• Visual Learning in Medicine

Context:

• Traditional dermatosurgical (DS) teaching relies on textbooks, supplemented by static images or videos.
• A need exists for enhanced learning tools to build learner confidence in performing surgical procedures independently.
• The FlapFinder (FF) online platform was developed to address these educational gaps.

Purpose:

• To evaluate user assessment of the FlapFinder (FF) online platform for dermatosurgical (DS) education.
• To determine the effectiveness of multimedia learning components (text, sketches, videos, bonus material) in surgical training.
• To gauge learner satisfaction and perceived benefits of the FF platform.

Summary:

• An online survey of 62 participants assessed the FlapFinder platform, which uses text (T), sketches (S), videos (V), and bonus material (B).
• The majority of users (88.7%) found the T+S+V combination aided understanding, 85.5% aided recall, and 69.3% improved independent procedure performance.
• Sketches (S) and videos (V) were most frequently used and reported as most beneficial, with most users (79%) valuing all components.

Impact:

• The study indicates a positive reception of the multimedia-rich FlapFinder platform by dermatosurgical learners.
• Visual learning components (sketches and videos) are particularly effective in enhancing surgical skill acquisition.
• Further research is needed to confirm the impact of e-learning media on the practical performance objectives in dermatosurgery.