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. 2024 Jun;6(6):356-364.
doi: 10.1002/acr2.11661. Epub 2024 Apr 2.

RheumMadness Over Two Years: Engaging Participants in Active Learning and Connecting Early Trainees to the Rheumatology Community

Lauren He  1 , Guy Katz  2 , Akrithi Garren  3 , Ben Kellogg  4 , Michael Macklin  5 , Courtney Bair  6 , Iman Qaiser  7 , Sabahat Usmani  8 , Meridith Balbach  9 , Benjamin Lueck  6 , Matthew Sparks  6 , Lisa Criscione-Schreiber  6 , David Leverenz  6
Affiliations

RheumMadness Over Two Years: Engaging Participants in Active Learning and Connecting Early Trainees to the Rheumatology Community

Lauren He et al. ACR Open Rheumatol. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: RheumMadness is an online learning collaborative that seeks to actively engage the rheumatology community. The objective of this manuscript is to analyze the educational experience of RheumMadness over two years.

Methods: Direct measures of participant engagement were obtained using web-based analytics. An electronic survey was created after the tournament to capture self-reported engagement and educational experience using the Community of Inquiry framework. Data were analyzed according to the following objectives: (1) compare demographics, engagement, and educational experience of participants between 2021 and 2022; (2) describe the educational experience of those who created scouting reports; (3) explore the impact of RheumMadness on early learners (medical students and residents).

Results: Compared with 2021, the 2022 tournament had more participants who submitted a bracket, more early learners, and more scouting report creators. Self-reported engagement and educational experience was high in both years of the tournament among all participants. Over 85% of scouting report creators reported that making a report was a fun and valuable learning experience. Early learners reported significantly higher levels of knowledge integration, sense of belonging in the rheumatology community, social connection, and overall learning experience compared with more advanced participants. Eighty-five percent of early learners reported that RheumMadness increased their interest in rheumatology.

Conclusion: RheumMadness expanded from 2021 to 2022, engaging more participants in collaborative learning. Our results demonstrate that RheumMadness is particularly impactful among medical students and residents by helping them explore rheumatology topics and connect with the rheumatology community.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bracket of teams for the RheumMadness 2022 tournament.
Figure 2
Figure 2
RheumMadness 2022 survey responses on participants’ experiences with scouting report creation (n = 27).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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