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A mobile-based educational tool for training medical students in emergency trauma management: development and pilot
Zahra Attarilar1, Hamidreza Mehryar2, Bahlol Rahimi3,4
1Student Research Committee, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
Objective:
Trauma is a significant health challenge worldwide, and general physicians play a key role in its management. Given the complexity and diversity of trauma cases, theoretical education and short clinical internships do not meet the educational needs of medical students. Therefore, the present study aimed to design and evaluate a mobile-based educational tool for trauma management training in medical students.
Method:
This mixed-methods study was conducted in four phases. Educational needs for trauma management and appropriate student assessment methods were first identified through a literature review and interviews. Then, a conceptual model and an educational tool were developed. Usability was evaluated using the "thinking-aloud" method, and the system was refined accordingly. Finally, a pilot quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility and obtain preliminary estimates of potential effectiveness by statistically comparing end-of-rotation scores among three independent student groups, with the intervention applied only to one group.
Results:
The primary educational needs included patient assessment, basic and advanced resuscitation, and injury management. The usability evaluation revealed minor issues that were fed back to developers and corrected. In this small-scale pilot study, students in the intervention group who used AidX in addition to routine education showed numerically higher end-of-rotation scores compared with the control group. These exploratory findings provide preliminary signals that warrant further investigation in larger, adequately powered randomized controlled trials.
Conclusion:
This small-scale pilot study suggests that a mobile-based educational tool (AidX) may be a feasible supplement to traditional trauma management education in settings with limited clinical exposure. However, these exploratory findings should be interpreted with caution as hypothesis-generating only. Larger, multicenter, randomized controlled trials are required to evaluate effectiveness.
