PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - HENRY AVERNS AU - MARK MARASCHIELLO AU - ELAINE van MELLE AU - ANDREW DAY TI - Evaluation of a Web-based Teaching Module on Examination of the Hand AID - 10.3899/jrheum.080761 DP - 2009 Mar 01 TA - The Journal of Rheumatology PG - 623--627 VI - 36 IP - 3 4099 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/36/3/623.short 4100 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/36/3/623.full SO - J Rheumatol2009 Mar 01; 36 AB - Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of an online module in the development of medical students’ clinical hand examination skills. Methods. We developed a Web-based module to teach examination of the hand to first-year medical students (n = 99) to address the core skills expected in undergraduate medical training in Canada. The module was compared to the standard recommended text and tutor-led teaching using a validated objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and a written knowledge test. Results. A total of 17 students completed the OSCE from the book-based learning group, 18 from the tutor-led group, and 26 from the online module group. The average total OSCE score was significantly higher for students in the online module group compared to the textbook group (73.2% and 60.5%, respectively; p = 0.003). There was no significant difference between students in the online module and tutor-led groups (73.2% and 69.0%, respectively; p = 0.31). The online module group had a significantly higher mean total knowledge score than the textbook group (8.4 and 5.7, respectively; p < 0.001; maximum score 10) and the tutor-led group (8.4 and 7.4, respectively; p = 0.04). Conclusion. Our study provides evidence that a well designed Web-based module, supported by sound educational theory, is an effective tool in the teaching of musculoskeletal examination skills, and provides some advantages over tutor-led teaching in terms of knowledge retention.