title: Text messaging versus email for emergency medicine residents' knowledge retention: a pilot comparison in the United States.
abstract: We evaluated the effectiveness of text messaging versus email, as a delivery method to enhance knowledge retention of emergency medicine (EM) content in EM residents. We performed a multi-centered, prospective, randomized study consisting of postgraduate year (PGY) 1 to PGY 3 & 4 residents in three United States EM residency programs in 2014. Fifty eight residents were randomized into one delivery group: text message or email. Participants completed a 40 question pre- and post-intervention exam. Primary outcomes were the means of pre- and post-intervention exam score differences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and multiple linear regressions. No significant difference was found between the primary outcomes of the two groups (P=0.51). PGY 2 status had a significant negative effect (P=0.01) on predicted exam score difference. Neither delivery method enhanced resident knowledge retention. Further research on implementation of mobile technology in residency education is required.
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, CA, USA.
authors: Wirachin
authors: 0000-0003-0507-7149
authors: W
authors: Hoonpongsimanont
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors: Miriam
authors: 0000-0002-4368-0291
authors: M
authors: Kulkarni
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, CA, USA.
authors: Pedro
authors: 0000-0003-3301-7338
authors: P
authors: Tomas-Domingo
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, CA, USA.
authors: Craig
authors: 0000-0003-2230-5131
authors: C
authors: Anderson
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors: Denise
authors: 0000-0003-4912-5560
authors: D
authors: McCormack
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield, CA, USA.
authors: Khoa
authors: 0000-0003-0623-2999
authors: K
authors: Tu
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, CA, USA.
authors: Bharath
authors: 0000-0002-8568-4709
authors: B
authors: Chakravarthy
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, CA, USA.
authors: Shahram
authors: 0000-0003-3437-9410
authors: S
authors: Lotfipour
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D034742:Electronic Mail; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010820:Physicians; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013663:Teaching; D013664:Teaching Materials; D060145:Text Messaging; D014481:United States
keywords: Electronic mail; Emergency medicine; Internship and residency; Text messaging; United States