Text messaging versus email for emergency medicine residents’ knowledge retention: a pilot comparison in the United States.
- Author:
Wirachin HOONPONGSIMANONT
1
;
Miriam KULKARNI
;
Pedro TOMAS-DOMINGO
;
Craig ANDERSON
;
Denise MCCORMACK
;
Khoa TU
;
Bharath CHAKRAVARTHY
;
Shahram LOTFIPOUR
Author Information
- Publication Type:Brief Communication
- Keywords: Electronic mail; Emergency medicine; Internship and residency; Text messaging; United States
- MeSH: Education; Electronic Mail*; Emergencies*; Emergency Medicine*; Internship and Residency; Linear Models; Methods; Prospective Studies; Text Messaging*; United States*
- From:Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions 2016;13(1):36-
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: We evaluated the effectiveness of text messaging versus email, as a delivery method to enhance knowledge retention of emergency medicine (EM) content in EM residents. We performed a multi-centered, prospective, randomized study consisting of postgraduate year (PGY) 1 to PGY 3 & 4 residents in three United States EM residency programs in 2014. Fifty eight residents were randomized into one delivery group: text message or email. Participants completed a 40 question pre- and post-intervention exam. Primary outcomes were the means of pre- and post-intervention exam score differences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and multiple linear regressions. No significant difference was found between the primary outcomes of the two groups (P=0.51). PGY 2 status had a significant negative effect (P=0.01) on predicted exam score difference. Neither delivery method enhanced resident knowledge retention. Further research on implementation of mobile technology in residency education is required.
