title: Working with patients with alcohol problems: a controlled trial of the impact of a rich media web module on medical student performance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We designed an interactive web module to improve medical student competence in screening and interventions for hazardous drinking. We assessed its impact on performance with a standardized patient (SP) vs. traditional lecture.
  
  
  METHODS
  First year medical school curriculum.
  
  
  METHODS
  The web module included pre/posttests, Flash(c), and text didactics. It centered on videos of two alcohol cases, each contrasting a novice with an experienced physician interviewer. The learner free-text critiqued each clip then reviewed expert analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  First year medical students conveniently assigned to voluntarily complete a web module (N = 82) or lecture (N = 81) were rated by a SP in a later alcohol case. Participation trended higher (82% vs. 72%, p < .07) among web students, with an additional 4 lecture-assigned students crossing to the web module. The web group had higher mean scores on scales of individual components of brief intervention (assessment and decisional balance) and a brief intervention composite score (1-13 pt.; 9 vs. 7.8, p < .02) and self-reported as better prepared for the SP case.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A web module for alcohol use interview skills reached a greater proportion of voluntary learners and was associated with equivalent overall performance scores and higher brief intervention skills scores on a standardized patient encounter.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. joshua.lee@med.nyu.edu
authors.forename: Joshua D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Triola
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gillespie
authors.forename: Marc N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Gourevitch
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanley
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Truncali
authors.forename: Sondra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zabar
authors.forename: Adina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalet
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008487:Medical History Taking