Online "spaced education progress-testing" of students to confront two upcoming challenges to medical schools.
OBJECTIVE
U.S. medical students will soon complete only one licensure examination sequence, given near the end of medical school. Thus, schools are challenged to identify poorly performing students before this high-stakes test and help them retain knowledge across the duration of medical school. The authors investigated whether online spaced education progress-testing (SEPT) could achieve both aims.


METHODS
Participants were 2,648 students from four U.S. medical schools; 120 multiple-choice questions and explanations in preclinical and clinical domains were developed and validated. For 34 weeks, students randomized to longitudinal progress-testing alone (LPTA) received four new questions (with answers/ explanations) each week. Students randomized to SEPT received the identical four questions each week, plus two-week and six-week cycled reviews of the questions/explanations. During weeks 31-34, the initial 40 questions were re-sent to students to assess longer-term retention.


RESULTS
Of the 1,067 students enrolled, the 120-question progress-test was completed by 446 (84%) and 392 (74%) of the LPTA and SEPT students, respectively. Cronbach alpha reliability was 0.87. Scores were 39.9%, 51.9%, 58.7%, and 58.8% for students in years 1-4, respectively. Performance correlated with Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge scores (r = 0.52 and 0.57, respectively; P < .001) and prospectively identified students scoring below the mean on Step 1 with 75% sensitivity, 77% specificity, and 41% positive predictive value. Cycled reviews generated a 170% increase in learning retention relative to baseline (P < .001, effect size 0.95).


CONCLUSIONS
SEPT can identify poorly performing students and improve their longer-term knowledge retention.
Surgical Service, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. price.kerfoot@gmail.com
B Price
BP
Kerfoot
Kitt
K
Shaffer
Graham T
GT
McMahon
Harley
H
Baker
Jamil
J
Kirdar
Steven
S
Kanter
Eugene C
EC
Corbett
Roger
R
Berkow
Edward
E
Krupat
Elizabeth G
EG
Armstrong
D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D020375:Education, Distance; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult