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Uptake and Efficacy of a Novel Self-Directed Foundational Curriculum for OB-Gyn Interns

Purpose: To evaluate a curriculum for OB-Gyn interns.

Background: To provide incoming interns with a reading plan, residency leadership created a novel, self-directed, online foundational curriculum for interns modeled after the ABOG MOC process.  The curriculum was first offered to interns starting residency in July 2017.
For each core intern clinical experience (Obstetrics, Gynecology, Family Planning, Office) selected readings represented the foundational knowledge expected of an OB-Gyn intern, totaling 42 readings.  For each reading, multiple choice questions highlighting the key information were crafted by attendings to create an online 40-question pretest, self-directed curriculum of 42 modules comprised of a reading and relevant comprehension questions, and 80-question posttest using unique questions not utilized in the pretest or modules.

Methods: The curriculum operated on the online educational platform, SparkLearn.  OB-Gyn interns starting residency at Vanderbilt in July 2017 completed the pretest during orientation.  Rising second-year residents completed the posttest simultaneously at the conclusion of intern year.  The intern class completed modules at their own pace and concluded intern year with the posttest.  Pretest, module, and posttest scoring was cataloged in SparkLearn.  IRB exempt study approval was obtained.

Results: For interns participating in the curriculum (N=6), mean module completion rate was 82.71% (range 26-95%).  Mean participator pretest and posttest scores were 71.04% (SD=7.22) and 82.71%(SD=7.04), respectively (p=0.01).
Participator module completion rate was strongly correlated with posttest scores (pearson coefficient 0.60) and weakly correlated to first year CREOG scores (pearson coefficient 0.12).   
Mean posttest scores at end of intern year were higher among curriculum participators (82.71%) compared to non-participators (75.31%) (p=0.05).  Mean first-year CREOG scores for curriculum participators were also higher (207) compared to non-participators (198) (p=0.24).

Discussions: Our novel online self-directed intern foundational reading curriculum had variable uptake but overall good utilization in its first year of deployment.  Compared to the preceeding intern class, participating interns had higher posttest knowledge scores.  There was a strong positive correlation between module completion rate and posttest performance.
Our study was limited by small sample size (N=6), but we continue to collect additional data with subsequent classes.  Multi-site deployment might permit correlation of curriculum utilization with milestones achievement in medical knowledge.

Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2020, Resident, Faculty, Residency Director, Medical Knowledge, Practice-Based Learning & Improvement, Independent Study, Problem-Based Learning,