Education, Medical, Undergraduate, SMS
Conditions
Brief summary
In this study, third year medical students on the pediatric clerkship will be randomized to receive either only written educational material (review journal articles) or written educational material plus daily text messages consisting of board style questions with online answers. The students' performance on the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Pediatric Subject Evaluation will be compared between the two groups.
Detailed description
In the last decade, the use of smartphone and text messaging (SMS) has increased significantly; during this time, text messaging has become the primary means of communication in some instances. Despite the popularity, text messaging and smartphones have been rarely utilized in the context of medical education. Few studies have been performed examining the effect of text messaging as an adjunct to traditional medical education. A previous study with the Saint Louis University (SLU) Pediatric Residency program, showed the feasibility of using text messaging to deliver medical information to pediatric residents through the Text4Peds program. This study aims to expand Text4Peds to third NBME Pediatric Subject Evaluation performance. The NBME Pediatric Subject Evaluation is a national, standardized pediatric knowledge based exam from the NBME taken by all medical students at the end of their pediatric clerkship.
Interventions
OTHERTexting Group
See above in arm/group description
OTHERNon Texting Group
See above in arm/group description
Sponsors
St. Louis University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Participants were randomly assigned to a Texting Group or a Non-Texting Group using a random number generator. The texting group received a daily text message containing a board style multiple choice question. If the participant wanted immediate feedback, the message contained a link to a website containing the answer to the question along with an explanation, the source material, and a more complete clinical vignette. One hour after the initial text message was sent, a follow up answer text message was delivered. Text messages were sent 6 days per week (Monday through Saturday) at 2pm and 3pm. To minimize perceived impropriety, the non-texting group received access to the journal articles from which the content was derived, but did not receive any text messages or any of the synthesized material. The primary outcome was performance on the NBME Pediatric Subject Examination.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Third year medical students on the Pediatric Clerkship at Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Exclusion criteria
* Third year medical students who did not have a mobile phone capable of receiving a short message service (SMS) text message
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| National Board of Medical Examiners Pediatric Subject Examination | Assessed at end of intervention (after 8 weeks) | The NBME pediatrics subject examination is used to assess medical student knowledge and is a common component of the pediatric clerkship grade. It is also used to compare medical student performance to a national benchmark. NBME scores are on a scale of 0-100 (% correct); mean score for this exam during year of evaluation was 75.7 (SD 8.7). |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed