title: A survey of the current utilization of asynchronous education among emergency medicine residents in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Medical education is transitioning from traditional learning methods. Resident interest in easily accessible education materials is forcing educators to reevaluate teaching methodology.
  
  
  METHODS
  To determine emergency medicine residents' current methods of and preferences for obtaining medical knowledge, the authors created a survey and sent it to residents, at all levels of training throughout the United States, whose e-mail addresses were available via their residency's official Web site (June-December 2012). The eight-question voluntary survey asked respondents about demographics, their use of extracurricular time, and the materials they perceived as most beneficial. The authors used descriptive statistics to analyze results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 401 residents who received the e-mailed survey, 226 (56.3%) completed it. Of these, 97.7% reported spending at least one hour per week engaging in extracurricular education, and 34.5% reported spending two to four hours per week (P < .001). Time listening to podcasts was the most popular (reported by 35.0% of residents), followed by reading textbooks (33.6%) and searching Google (21.4%; P < .001). Residents endorsed podcasts as the most beneficial (endorsed by 70.3%) compared with textbooks (endorsed by 54.3%), journals (36.5%), and Google (33.8%; P < .001). Most respondents reported evaluating the quality of evidence or reviewing references "rarely" or less than half the time. A majority (80.0%) selected the topics they accessed based on recent clinical encounters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that residents are using more open access interactive multimedia tools. Medical educators must engage with current learners to guide appropriate use of these.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Mallin is assistant professor, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Schlein is a resident, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Doctor is a resident, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Stroud is assistant professor, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Dawson is assistant professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Fix is assistant professor, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mallin
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schlein
authors.forename: Shaneen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doctor
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stroud
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fix
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004493:Education / Q000379:methods*; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013782:Textbooks as Topic; D014481:United States