• Emmanuel Montassier, Jean-Benoît Hardouin, Julien Segard, Eric Batard, Gilles Potel, Bernard Planchon, Jean-Noël Trochu, and Pierre Pottier.
• aEmergency Department, Nantes University Hospital bFaculty of Medicine cDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine dDepartment of Biostatistics, Pharmacoepidemiology and Subjective Measures in Health Sciences, University of Nantes eNantes University Hospital Centre, l'Institut du Thorax, Nantes, France.
• Eur J Emerg Med. 2016 Apr 1; 23 (2): 108-13.

ObjectiveAn ECG is pivotal for the diagnosis of coronary heart disease. Previous studies have reported deficiencies in ECG interpretation skills that have been responsible for misdiagnosis. However, the optimal way to acquire ECG interpretation skills is still under discussion. Thus, our objective was to compare the effectiveness of e-learning and lecture-based courses for learning ECG interpretation skills in a large randomized study.Participants And MethodsWe conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled, noninferiority study. Participants were recruited from among fifth-year medical students and were assigned to the e-learning group or the lecture-based group using a computer-generated random allocation sequence. The e-learning and lecture-based groups were compared on a score of effectiveness, comparing the 95% unilateral confidence interval (95% UCI) of the score of effectiveness with the mean effectiveness in the lecture-based group, adjusted for a noninferiority margin.ResultsNinety-eight students were enrolled. As compared with the lecture-based course, e-learning was noninferior with regard to the postcourse test score (15.1; 95% UCI 14.2; +∞), which can be compared with 12.5 [the mean effectiveness in the lecture-based group (15.0) minus the noninferiority margin (2.5)]. Furthermore, there was a significant increase in the test score points in both the e-learning and lecture-based groups during the study period (both P<0.0001).ConclusionOur randomized study showed that the e-learning course is an effective tool for the acquisition of ECG interpretation skills by medical students. These preliminary results should be confirmed with further multicenter studies before the implementation of e-learning courses for learning ECG interpretation skills during medical school.

26 keywords...

hide…