Can preclinical students improve their clinical reasoning skills only by taking case-based online testlets? A randomized controlled study.

MEDICAL education; TEACHING methods; HIGHER education; STUDENT development; MEDICAL students; RANDOMIZED controlled trials

The prominent method to teach clinical reasoning in preclinical years is case-based discussions. It necessitates hours of sessions. A randomised-controlled study has been conducted to determine whether preclinical students can develop illness scripts only by taking online formative testlets. A pre-test-post-test randomised-controlled design has been utilised. The intervention group (N = 20) answered general surgery questions for 18 days, while the control group (N = 19) received questions regarding urinary tract infections. These testlets were comprised of ContExtended Questions, which is a web-based tool to teach clinical reasoning. The performance was assessed by using Key-Feature Questions. While post-test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores in the intervention group (p < 0.001), there was no statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores in the control group (p = 0.30). Taking formative case-based multiple-choice testlets without any additional teaching could assist preclinical students to learn clinical reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Innovations in Education & Teaching International is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)