Abstract:

Objective:
E-learning (EL) has been developing as a medical education resource since the arrival of the internet. The COVID-19 pandemic has minimised clinical exposure for medical trainees and forced educators to use online resources to replace traditional learning (TL) resources. The aim of this review was to determine the impact of EL versus TL on emergency medicine (EM) learning outcomes of medical trainees.

Methods:
A systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement using articles sourced from CINAHL, Embase, OVID Medline and PubMed databases. Articles were independently reviewed by two reviewers following strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. Bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.

Results:
The search yielded a total of 1586 non-duplicate studies. A total of 20 studies were included for data extraction. Sixteen of the included studies assessed knowledge gain of participants using multiple-choice questions as an outcome measure. Eleven of the 16 demonstrated no statistically significant difference while three studies favoured EL with statistical significance and two favoured TL with statistical significance. Seven of the included studies assessed practical skill gain of participants. Six of the seven demonstrated no statistical significance while one study favoured EL with statistical significance.

Conclusion:
This systematic review supports the use of EL for the teaching of EM as it is comparable to TL. The authors encourage the integration of EL where possible in EM curricula of all levels; however more prospective research is required before definitive conclusions can be drawn.

Keywords:

Education, learning, online learning, e-learning, traditional learning, textbooks, lectures, medical students, junior doctors.