TY - JOUR
T1 - Harmonising Evidence-based medicine teaching
T2 - A study of the outcomes of e-learning in five European countries
AU - Kulier, Regina
AU - Hadley, Julie
AU - Weinbrenner, Susanne
AU - Meyerrose, Berrit
AU - Decsi, Tamas
AU - Horvath, Andrea R.
AU - Nagy, Eva
AU - Emparanza, Jose I.
AU - Coppus, Sjors F.P.J.
AU - Arvanitis, Theodoros N.
AU - Burls, Amanda
AU - Cabello, Juan B.
AU - Kaczor, Marcin
AU - Zanrei, Gianni
AU - Pierer, Karen
AU - Stawiarz, Katarzyna
AU - Kunz, Regina
AU - Mol, Ben W.J.
AU - Khan, Khalid S.
N1 - Funding Information:
The study was funded by the European Union Leonardo da Vinci project grant (grant number: UK/05/B/F/PP-162_349).
Funding Information:
We developed an e-learning course for teaching EBM in postgraduate trainees [13]. The curriculum was prepared by the EU EBM Unity partnership [14], funded by the European Union's vocational training programme (Leonardo da Vinci). The EU EBM Unity, a collaborative pilot project involving 11 partners within Europe, aims to contribute to harmonisation of EBM teaching across the European healthcare sector. Using an established methodology of curriculum development [15] we defined explicit learning objectives about knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour for five teaching modules covering the various EBM steps shown in table 1. In brief, the modules cover the following steps: module 1: asking clinical questions, module 2: searching the evidence, module 3: critical appraisal of systematic reviews, module 4: applicability of the evidence to the patient and module 5: implementation of evidence into practice.
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - Background. We developed and evaluated the outcomes of an e-learning course for evidence based medicine (EBM) training in postgraduate medical education in different languages and settings across five European countries. Methods. We measured changes in knowledge and attitudes with well-developed assessment tools before and after administration of the course. The course consisted of five e-learning modules covering acquisition (formulating a question and search of the literature), appraisal, application and implementation of findings from systematic reviews of therapeutic interventions, each with interactive audio-visual learning materials of 15 to 20 minutes duration. The modules were prepared in English, Spanish, German and Hungarian. The course was delivered to 101 students from different specialties in Germany (psychiatrists), Hungary (mixture of specialties), Spain (general medical practitioners), Switzerland (obstetricians-gynaecologists) and the UK (obstetricians-gynaecologists). We analysed changes in scores across modules and countries. Results. On average across all countries, knowledge scores significantly improved from pre- to post-course for all five modules (p < 0.001). The improvements in scores were on average 1.87 points (14% of total score) for module 1, 1.81 points (26% of total score) for module 2, 1.9 points (11% of total score) for module 3, 1.9 points (12% of total score) for module 4 and 1.14 points (14% of total score) for module 5. In the country specific analysis, knowledge gain was not significant for module 4 in Spain, Switzerland and the UK, for module 3 in Spain and Switzerland and for module 2 in Spain. Compared to pre-course assessment, after completing the course participants felt more confident that they can assess research evidence and that the healthcare system in their country should have its own programme of research about clinical effectiveness. Conclusion. E-learning in EBM can be harmonised for effective teaching and learning in different languages, educational settings and clinical specialties, paving the way for development of an international e-EBM course.
AB - Background. We developed and evaluated the outcomes of an e-learning course for evidence based medicine (EBM) training in postgraduate medical education in different languages and settings across five European countries. Methods. We measured changes in knowledge and attitudes with well-developed assessment tools before and after administration of the course. The course consisted of five e-learning modules covering acquisition (formulating a question and search of the literature), appraisal, application and implementation of findings from systematic reviews of therapeutic interventions, each with interactive audio-visual learning materials of 15 to 20 minutes duration. The modules were prepared in English, Spanish, German and Hungarian. The course was delivered to 101 students from different specialties in Germany (psychiatrists), Hungary (mixture of specialties), Spain (general medical practitioners), Switzerland (obstetricians-gynaecologists) and the UK (obstetricians-gynaecologists). We analysed changes in scores across modules and countries. Results. On average across all countries, knowledge scores significantly improved from pre- to post-course for all five modules (p < 0.001). The improvements in scores were on average 1.87 points (14% of total score) for module 1, 1.81 points (26% of total score) for module 2, 1.9 points (11% of total score) for module 3, 1.9 points (12% of total score) for module 4 and 1.14 points (14% of total score) for module 5. In the country specific analysis, knowledge gain was not significant for module 4 in Spain, Switzerland and the UK, for module 3 in Spain and Switzerland and for module 2 in Spain. Compared to pre-course assessment, after completing the course participants felt more confident that they can assess research evidence and that the healthcare system in their country should have its own programme of research about clinical effectiveness. Conclusion. E-learning in EBM can be harmonised for effective teaching and learning in different languages, educational settings and clinical specialties, paving the way for development of an international e-EBM course.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=43749107982&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1472-6920-8-27
DO - 10.1186/1472-6920-8-27
M3 - Article
C2 - 18442424
AN - SCOPUS:43749107982
SN - 1472-6920
VL - 8
JO - BMC Medical Education
JF - BMC Medical Education
M1 - 27
ER -