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| Title |
AN INTERNET-BASED ABG INTERPRETATION TUTORIAL IS
AN EFFECTIVE TEACHING TOOL FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS |
| Author |
M Berg, C Mullett, E Allen |
| Affiliation |
Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department
of Pediatrics, Primary Children? Medical Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT |
| Introduction |
Arterial blood gas (ABG) interpretation is often
incorrectly performed, even by post-graduate clinicians.1 We created an internet-based
tutorial using HTML and JavaScript to teach this skill. |
| Method |
Thirty one medical students (year 1 and 2)
volunteered to participate A four question multiple-choice pretest containing pH, pCO2 and
bicarbonate values for common acid/base scenarios was given. The students then used our
computer tutorial via the internet (http://www.ped.med.utah.edu/abgtutorial) and were
given a 4 question post-test similar to the first. A five point Likert scale survey was
also administered. |
| Result |
100% (31 of 31) students asked to participate
completed the tutorial and testing, 90% (28 of 31) returned the survey. The mean pretest
score was 1.6 (SD=1.2, range 0-4). The mean post-test score was 3.8 (SD=0.4, range 3-4).
This improvement was statistically significant by paired t-test (p<.001). In the
post-tutorial survey, 81% of students felt they could learn ABG interpretation using this
tutorial. Moreover, 72% (21 of 29) agreed or strongly agreed that the tutorial,
"ompared favorably to learning from a book or lecture." |
| Conclusion |
Interactive medical student education using
computers and the internet to teach arterial blood gas interpretation appears to be
effective. Our results suggest that students are receptive to this method, making it a
feasible alternative or supplement to traditional teaching techniques. A prospective
randomized controlled trial should be considered to compare this tool to currently used
curricula. |
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