Video- or text-based e-learning when teaching clinical procedures? A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background and aims

This study investigated the effectiveness of two different levels of e-learning when teaching clinical skills to medical students.

Materials and methods

Sixty medical students were included and randomized into two comparable groups. The groups were given either a video- or text/picture-based e-learning module and subsequently underwent both theoretical and practical examination. A follow-up test was performed 1 month later.

Results

The students in the video group performed better than the illustrated text-based group in the practical examination, both in the primary test (P<0.001) and in the follow-up test (P<0.01). Regarding theoretical knowledge, no differences were found between the groups on the primary test, though the video group performed better on the follow-up test (P=0.04).

Conclusion

Video-based e-learning is superior to illustrated text-based e-learning when teaching certain practical clinical skills.

Keywords:

• e-learning
• video versus text
• medicine
• clinical skills

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.