An interactive web-based module to teach physician assistants about venous thromboembolism

Abstract

Objective Questions about venous thromboembolism (VTE) management result in a high number of cardiovascular consults at one large teaching hospital. However, many of these consults are deemed “inappropriate” by the receiving consultants. This combination presented an opportunity to examine the effi cacy of interprofessional education through an interactive web-based module to teach physician assistants (PAs) about VTE management.

Methods and results A web-based module and survey with interactive cases encompassing key VTE management decisions was distributed to 41 inpatient oncology PAs. Usability, satisfaction, and effi cacy were evaluated using knowledge and Likert-scale items. Participating PAs improved their VTE knowledge with a pre-module assessment score of 31.7% correct and post-module score of 63.3% (P =0.0016). There was an increase in self-reported comfort for managing VTE (mean 3.92 vs 3.07; P= 0.004) and calling cardiovascular consults (4.08 vs 2.50; P< 0.0001). The PAs would highly recommend the module and use it in their practice with 76.9% of them ranking it as their most preferred learning method.

Conclusion A brief, interactive web-based module increased knowledge and comfort level with VTE management among PAs. This module design can serve as a template for a wide range of cardiovascular learning tools.

Key Words:

• Venous thromboembolism
• continuing medical education
• online learning