[Long-term results of an independent study program of electrocardiography applied to medical students]

In medical education, programs that promote independent study are favored over traditional teaching methodologies. Aiming to assess the long term results of this pedagogic approach, fifth year medical students were assigned to receive self instruction modules or expositive lectures on electrocardiography. The knowledge and opinions of these two groups were evaluated two years later. Knowledge assessment was significantly better among students receiving self instruction modules (75.3 +/- 9.3 vs 65.4 +/- 12.9 points, in a scale ranging from 1 to 100 (p < 0.001). The self instruction method and traditional lectures were qualified as very useful by 86.8 and 38.9% of students respectively. It is concluded that self instruction methods have good long term results, when applied to medical students.