Twelve tips for the effective use of videos in medical education

Abstract

Videos can promote learning by either complementing classroom activities, or in self-paced online learning modules. Despite the wide availability of online videos in medicine, it can be a challenge for many educators to decide when videos should be used, how to best use videos, and whether to use existing videos or produce their own. We outline 12 tips based on a review of best practices in curriculum design, current research in multimedia learning and our experience in producing and using educational videos. The 12 tips review the advantages of using videos in medical education, present requirements for teachers and students, discuss how to integrate video into a teaching programme, and describe technical requirements when producing one’s own videos. The 12 tips can help medical educators use videos more effectively to promote student engagement and learning.

Acknowledgements

Authors thank Galen Yeo, Co-founder and Creative Director of The Moving Visuals Company, Singapore; Dr Lau Thian Phuay, Emergency Medicine Physician from the National University Hospital; Michael Nick, New York University School of Medicine; Dr Elizabeth Kachur, Medical Education Development for reading earlier drafts of this article and providing invaluable feedback.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article. The work was conducted at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.