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 Feb 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - jrheum.080761
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2009/02/04/jrheum.080761.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2009/02/04/jrheum.080761.full
AB  - Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of an online module in the development of medical students’ clinical hand examination skills. Methods We developed aWeb-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.