Near-peer Tutoring Compared With a Standard Faculty-led Course for Undergraduate Training in Abdominal Ultrasound.

NCT04114812 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: UBern SIGNATURE
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 152
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 3

Brief Summary

Background: Ultrasound has become clinical skill widely used in most medical disciplines. Institutions are changing their curricula to implementing basic ultrasound knowledge, often supplementing traditional teaching with 'near-peer' tutoring through classes held by advanced peers. Near-peer tutoring has been found to be both effective and cost-effective. In Switzerland the most popular course in postgraduate training is a resource-intensive 21-hour basic course for abdominal ultrasound. However, this is expensive, and may not be the best way to impart these skills to undergraduates, who need training more adapted to their needs. Therefore a 21-hour blended-learning ultrasound course, comprising 5 hours of e-learning and 16 hours of near-peer tutoring has been developped. Students and their near-peer tutors autonomously organize individual practical teaching sessions within a 16 weeks time period. Methods: Medical students from second to fourth year at the Universities of Bern, Fribourg and Zurich will be included. Stratified by study site, students will be randomized to one of the two interventions. The blended-learning group will receive e-learning and near-peer tutoring over 16 weeks; the other group will receive 21 hours of teaching, from ultrasound experts, in a 2.5-day course. All participants will undergo a six-station OSCE directly after the course and 6 months later. Students will fill out online questionnaires at baseline, directly after the course and 6 months later. The mean scores of both groups will be compared at six months after the end of both courses. Secondary outcome measures will be students' ultrasound skills immediately after the courses, student satisfaction, multivariate regression exploring factors that affect outcome at 6 months and exploratory subgroup analysis. Discussion: This study is designed to compare the current way of ultrasound education in Switzerland with a new blended learning course. It aims to determine whether the blended learning course is as good as, or better than the existing 21-hour standard course. If this is found to be the case, blended learning could help to expand capacity to offer such courses to undergraduate medical students. It would eventually allow undergraduate Swiss medical students to acquire ultrasound skills before starting their residencies. This study also aims at improving the understanding of how to achieve effective student-centred learning supported by near-peer tutoring.

Conditions

Ultrasonography; Educational Techniques

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Mean participants' "Swiss Students' Ultrasound Skills Assessment" scores six months after the end of their courses (OSCE 2).

  The investigators will assess the participants' ultrasound skills using the "Swiss Students' Ultrasound Skills Assessment". This uses a validated OSCE form (Hofer et al. 2011), which has been adapted to specific Swiss needs and revalidated. The total score can range from 0-300 points, a higher total representing a better performance. The OSCE assesses handling of the probe, explanation of the ultrasound image, examination skills and theoretical knowledge. Each station will assess a key topic that arises in both courses.

  10 months from enrollment at each site

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Mean participants' "Swiss Students' Ultrasound Skills Assessment" scores immediately after the end of their courses (OSCE 1).

  16 weeks from enrollment at each site

• Change in mean participants' "Swiss Students' Ultrasound Skills Assessment" scores (knowledge retention).

  10 months from enrollment at each site

• Participants' satisfaction with allocated courses

  16 weeks from enrollment at each site

• Multivariate regression exploring factors that affect outcome at six months after the end of their courses

  10 months after enrollment at each site

Study Arms (2)

Blended learning

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the blended learning group will be taught abdominal ultrasound by an e-learning platform and practical near-peer tutoring classes over 16 weeks, summing up to 5 hours of e-learning and 16 hours of near-peer tutoring classes.

Other: Blended learning

Standard course

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants in the standard course or control group will participate in a 2.5-day course in abdominal ultrasound, comprising 5 hours of lectures and 16 hours of ultrasound training.

Other: Standard course

Interventions

Blended learning OTHER

In the intervention group, students will be given access to an e-learning platform that contains five e-learning modules. They will attend individual small group tutoring sessions, with a maximum of 4 students per group. They will be able to book these sessions at a dedicated web platform. They will have 16 weeks in which to complete the 5 e-learning modules and 16 hours of practical training. Progress will be monitored and supported by regular follow-up messages and calls by the study team. Students must hand in the logbook with tutors' signatures when they enter the exam. All students within the blended learning group that completed 5 hours of e-learning as well as 16 hours of peer-tutoring and passed a predefined total score in the test directly after the intervention will receive a course certificate. Students not fulfilling all of these criteria will have the possibility to complete the program and/or re-do the test after the end of the study.

Blended learning

Standard course OTHER

In the standard course or control group, students will participate in a 2.5-day course in abdominal ultrasound, comprising 5 hours of lectures and 16 hours of ultrasound training in small groups, with a maximum of 4 students per group. The course will be held in an ultrasound training centre in Bern. All students within the standard course group that participated in the whole 2.5 day course and passed a predefined total score in the test directly after the intervention will receive a course certificate. Students not fulfilling all of these criteria will have the possibility to complete the program and/or re-do the test after the end of the study.

Standard course

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 35 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Medical students at three Swiss universities (Bern, Freiburg, Zurich) in the 3rd to 8th semester, who:
• are willing to participate in the study;
• are willing to pay the 200.- CHF course fees (partial reimbursement of tutors and administrative fee for the SGUM course certificate)
• fill out a baseline questionnaire
• signed informed consent sheet

You may not qualify if:

• Did not sign study agreement or pay the course fee
• More than 5 hours of previous formal ultrasound training
• Failure to fill out baseline questionnaire

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Bern: lead

Study Sites (3)

University of Bern

Bern, 3000, Switzerland

Location

University of Fribourg

Fribourg, 1700, Switzerland

Location

University of Zurich

Zurich, 8091, Switzerland

Location

Related Publications (22)

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Study Officials

• Roman Hari, MD

  University of Bern

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: We will include 152 medical students at the Universities of Bern, Fribourg and Zurich. Stratified by study site, students will be randomized to one of the two interventions. The blended-learning group will receive e-learning and near-peer tutoring over 16 weeks; the other group will receive 21 hours of teaching, from ultrasound experts, in a 2.5-day course.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 27, 2019
• First Posted: October 3, 2019
• Study Start: September 17, 2019
• Primary Completion: September 25, 2021
• Study Completion: November 21, 2021
• Last Updated: January 13, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CH (3)