o completed an in-person training session and those that completed the synchronous online program.
Because both methods of course delivery were found to provide statistically identical learning outcomes, researchers concluded that online training is just as useful in teaching medical professionals as in-person training sessions.
Measuring Gender Bias
In addition to the efficiency of online classrooms, the research team was also interested in how gender bias affects medical practitioners. A total of 473 scholars applied to the program, of which 83 were female and 390 were male. All of the female applicants were included to provide a stronger gender balance and reveal potential gender-related differences in the results. Not all applicants who were offered a position in the study chose to accept, and the final pool of participants was 72 females and 202 males.
The study found no significant difference in the learning outcomes between males and females in the online classroom. However, female students outscored male students in the traditional classroom setting by a moderate margin. The study did not identify the reason for the higher scores among women participants. The research team suggests that this question warrants further study.
The Future of Online Classrooms in Medical Training
In the past, doctors have relied on expensive and time-consuming training sessions to improve their skills in diagnosing and treating diseases. Dr. Carrick’s study proves that attending these seminars remotely is just as valuable. This could increase the demand for online training and improve accessibility for professionals in all medical specialties, ensuring that more doctors can stay up-to-date on the latest in technology and new research.
“Our educational program included a variety of methods and tools to enhance learning of a considerable amount of complex material and to promote critical thinking and decision making that is not promoted by traditional didactic teaching methods that remain as the predominant teaching strategies in health-care education,” the researchers said in the publication.
The authors of the study were hopeful that advancing technologies could expand educational possibilities even further. “The increasing availability of newer technology in higher education such as video streaming and podcasting provided us the opportunity to utilize a variety of approaches to cater for a wider range of learning styles. Students find hybrid learning strategies that combine traditional teaching with more innovative methods particularly beneficial.”
The full text of the study is available online through “Frontiers in Neurology.”