PURPOSE: This case study explored the use of Google Glass in a clinical examination scenario to capture the first-person perspective of a standardized patient as a way to provide formative feedback on students' communication and empathy skills ‘through the patient's eyes.' METHODS: During a 3-year period between 2014 and 2017, third-year students enrolled in a family medicine clerkship participated in a Google Glass station during a summative clinical examination. At this station, standardized patients wore Google Glass to record an encounter focused on communication and empathy skills ‘through the patient's eyes.' Students completed an online survey using a 4-point Likert scale about their perspectives on Google Glass as a feedback tool (N= 255). RESULTS: We found that the students' experiences with Google Glass ‘through the patient's eyes' were largely positive and that students felt the feedback provided by the Google Glass recording to be helpful. Although a third of the students felt that Google Glass was a distraction, the majority believed that the first-person perspective recordings provided an opportunity for feedback that did not exist before. CONCLUSION Continuing exploration of first-person perspective recordings using Google Glass to improve education on communication and empathy skills is warranted.

PURPOSE: This case study explored the use of Google Glass in a clinical examination scenario to capture the first-person perspective of a standardized patient as a way to provide formative feedback on students' communication and empathy skills ‘through the patient's eyes.' METHODS: During a 3-year period between 2014 and 2017, third-year students enrolled in a family medicine clerkship participated in a Google Glass station during a summative clinical examination. At this station, standardized patients wore Google Glass to record an encounter focused on communication and empathy skills ‘through the patient's eyes.' Students completed an online survey using a 4-point Likert scale about their perspectives on Google Glass as a feedback tool (N= 255). RESULTS: We found that the students' experiences with Google Glass ‘through the patient's eyes' were largely positive and that students felt the feedback provided by the Google Glass recording to be helpful. Although a third of the students felt that Google Glass was a distraction, the majority believed that the first-person perspective recordings provided an opportunity for feedback that did not exist before. CONCLUSION: Continuing exploration of first-person perspective recordings using Google Glass to improve education on communication and empathy skills is warranted.
Education ; Education, Medical ; Empathy ; Formative Feedback ; Glass ; Humans ; United States

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to measure the effect of an iPad-based asynchronous curriculum on emergency medicine resident performance on the in-training exam (ITE). We hypothesized that the implementation of an asynchronous curriculum (replacing 1 hour of weekly didactic time) would result in non-inferior ITE scores compared to the historical scores of residents who had participated in the traditional 5-hour weekly didactic curriculum. METHODS: The study was a retrospective, non-inferiority study. conducted at the University of California, Irvine Emergency Medicine Residency Program. We compared ITE scores from 2012 and 2013, when there were 5 weekly hours of didactic content, with scores from 2014 and 2015, when 1 hour of conference was replaced with asynchro-nous content. Examination results were compared using a non-inferiority data analysis with a 10% margin of difference. RESULTS: Using a non-inferiority test with a 95% confidence interval, there was no difference between the 2 groups (before and after implementation of asynchronous learning), as the confidence interval for the change of the ITE was −3.5 to 2.3 points, whereas the 10% non-inferiority margin was 7.8 points. CONCLUSION: Replacing 1 hour of didactic conference with asynchronous learning showed no negative impact on resident ITE scores.
California ; Curriculum* ; Education* ; Education, Medical, Graduate ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medicine* ; Internship and Residency ; Learning ; Retrospective Studies ; Statistics as Topic ; United States*

Purpose: Technological advances are changing how students approach learning. The traditional note-taking methods of longhand writing have been supplemented and replaced by tablets, smartphones, and laptop note-taking. It has been theorized that writing notes by hand requires more complex cognitive processes and may lead to better retention. However, few studies have investigated the use of tablet-based note-taking, which allows the incorporation of typing, drawing, highlights, and media. We therefore sought to confirm the hypothesis that tablet-based note-taking would lead to equivalent or better recall as compared to written note-taking. Methods: We allocated 68 students into longhand, laptop, or tablet note-taking groups, and they watched and took notes on a presentation on which they were assessed for factual and conceptual recall. A second short distractor video was shown, followed by a 30-minute assessment at the University of California, Irvine campus, over a single day period in August 2018. Notes were analyzed for content, supplemental drawings, and other media sources. Results: No significant difference was found in the factual or conceptual recall scores for tablet, laptop, and handwritten note-taking (P=0.61). The median word count was 131.5 for tablets, 121.0 for handwriting, and 297.0 for laptops (P=0.01). The tablet group had the highest presence of drawing, highlighting, and other media/tools. Conclusion In light of conflicting research regarding the best note-taking method, our study showed that longhand note-taking is not superior to tablet or laptop note-taking. This suggests students should be encouraged to pick the note-taking method that appeals most to them. In the future, traditional note-taking may be replaced or supplemented with digital technologies that provide similar efficacy with more convenience.