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. 2017 Dec 11:14:29.
doi: 10.3352/jeehp.2017.14.29. eCollection 2017.

Efficacy of an asynchronous electronic curriculum in emergency medicine education in the United States

Alisa Wray  1 , Kathryn Bennett  2 , Megan Boysen-Osborn  1 , Warren Wiechmann  1 , Shannon Toohey  1
Affiliations

Efficacy of an asynchronous electronic curriculum in emergency medicine education in the United States

Alisa Wray et al. J Educ Eval Health Prof. .

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to measure the effect of an iPad-based asynchronous curriculum on emergency medicine resident performance on the in-training exam (ITE). We hypothesized that the implementation of an asynchronous curriculum (replacing 1 hour of weekly didactic time) would result in non-inferior ITE scores compared to the historical scores of residents who had participated in the traditional 5-hour weekly didactic curriculum.

Methods: The study was a retrospective, non-inferiority study. conducted at the University of California, Irvine Emergency Medicine Residency Program. We compared ITE scores from 2012 and 2013, when there were 5 weekly hours of didactic content, with scores from 2014 and 2015, when 1 hour of conference was replaced with asynchro-nous content. Examination results were compared using a non-inferiority data analysis with a 10% margin of difference.

Results: Using a non-inferiority test with a 95% confidence interval, there was no difference between the 2 groups (before and after implementation of asynchronous learning), as the confidence interval for the change of the ITE was -3.5 to 2.3 points, whereas the 10% non-inferiority margin was 7.8 points.

Conclusion: Replacing 1 hour of didactic conference with asynchronous learning showed no negative impact on resident ITE scores.

Keywords: Curriculum; Emergency medicine; Graduate medical education; Retrospective studies; United States.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Individualized interactive instruction, as defined by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. From Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Frequently asked questions: emergency medicine [Internet]. Chicago (IL): Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; 2017 [cited 2017 Oct 23]. Available from: https://www.acgme.org/Portals/0/PDFs/FAQ/110_emergency_medicine_ FAQs_2017-07-01.pdf [8].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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