The efficacy of a computer-assisted preoperative tutorial for clinical clerks

To assess the effectiveness of computer-assisted preoperative tutorials on human anatomy in improving the operating-room learning experience for clinical clerks.

Crossover trials with immediate assessment and approximately 1-week delay between trials.

General surgery operating room of a university teaching hospital.

Eight 4th-year clinical clerks on a single 8-week surgical rotation.

The senior surgeon's assessment of the clerk's knowledge and understanding of the operation, according to a six-item questionnaire, and the clerk's own assessment of the experience in the operating room, according to an eight-item questionnaire.

Surgeons rated the clerks' performances in the operating room as better when they had received the preoperative tutorial (mean [and standard deviation], 3.7 [0.4]) than when they had not received the preoperative tutorial (3.0 [0.3]). The difference (0.7 [0.6]) was statistically significant (t7 = 3.3, p < 0.01). Similarly, clerks rated their own experience more positively when they had received the tutorial (4.0 [0.2]) than when they had not (3.1 [0.3]), with the difference (0.9 [0.5]) being statistically significant (t7 = 4.9, p < 0.001).

Short, preoperative, computer-assisted tutorials on human anatomy can have a positive impact on the clerk's level of knowledge and confidence in the operating room. Further research is warranted into the extent to which students spontaneously make use of these tutorials.