An Interactive Module to Teach Common Biostatistical Tests to Learners in the Health Professions

Biostatistics are ubiquitous in medicine, providing quantitative insights into trials and experiments that shape the healthcare field. Despite training in evidence-based medicine, medical students and residents struggle to master biostatistical concepts and apply biostatistics to appraise research. There are limited resources available for students to quickly and cost-effectively learn biostatistical tests. From this problem, a two-part biostatistical educational module was created using Rise Articulate 360® software, an interactive module platform. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an educational biostatistics module's ability to improve learners' knowledge and application of commonly used biostatistical tests, as well as their confidence in biostatistics. Each part of the module contained five biostatistical test tutorials. Each biostatistical test was explained, as well as how the test was typically applied in healthcare. Knowledge acquisition, test application, and confidence regarding biostatistical tests were assessed using a pretest and a posttest. The module was completed by 33 first- and second-year medical students.  Knowledge acquisition improved from a mean of 2.41 to 3.53 (P <= 0.001). Participants expressed that the biostatistical educational module was easy to use and improved both their confidence and knowledge of specific biostatistical tests. Most students found that the biostatistical educational module applied to their future work. In summary, our module was successful in exposing learners in the health professions to commonly used biostatistical tests and tests' applications to the medical literature and their future research. Biostatistics is a pillar of medical research and education, and students' mastery of the concept will prove to be of longitudinal valuable, whether they pursue careers as clinicians and/or researchers.