WISE-MD usage among millennial medical students

Abstract

Background: E-learning is increasingly common in undergraduate medical education. Internet-based multimedia materials should be designed with millennial learner utilization preferences in mind for maximal impact.

Methods: Medical students used all 20 Web Initiative for Surgical Education of Medical Doctors modules from July 1, 2013 to October 1, 2013. Data were analyzed for topic frequency, time and week day, and access to questions.

Results: Three thousand five hundred eighty-seven students completed 35,848 modules. Students accessed modules for average of 51 minutes. Most frequent use occurred on Sunday (23.1%), Saturday (15.4%), and Monday (14.3%). Friday had the least use (8.2%). A predominance of students accessed the modules between 7 and 10 PM (34.4%). About 80.4% of students accessed questions for at least one module. They completed an average of 40 ± 30 of the questions. Only 827 students (2.3%) repeated the questions.

Conclusions: Web Initiative for Surgical Education of Medical Doctors has peak usage during the weekend and evenings. Most frequently used modules reflect core surgical problems. Multiple factors influence the manner module questions are accessed.

Keywords: Internet-based learning; Millennial learners; Multimedia learning; WISE-MD.