APGO

Background: Challenger® is a commercially available on-line educational package, which offers focused readings on a variety of OB/GYN topics with self-assessments tests. It was utilized during the night float block to comply with duty hour restrictions, while still providing educational enrichment. Each resident completed 2-3 modules weekly, including a pre-test, educational content, and a post-test. The Challenger®program allows supervision and monitoring of resident progress. The total cost of Challenger®was approximately $6,000.

Methods: After one year of usage of Challenger®, residents completed a quality assessment questionnaire which evaluated the reading assignments, test questions, and their perception of its usefulness as a learning tool. 

Results: 16 residents completed the quality assessment questionnaire on Challenger®. 100% of residents found the reading assignments were easy to understand. 75% of residents learned “sometimes/rarely” from the modules. 81% of residents rated the question quality as “poor/fair”. 75% of residents believed it to not be worthwhile.  81% did not believe that it helped to prepare for boards exams. 88% were unlikely to endorse continuation or recommend Challenger® to other residency programs.

Discussions: Challenger® was not a useful learning tool for OB/GYN resident education. Some readings were outdated. Some questions were of poor quality in assessing knowledge base.  As pre- and post-test questions were the same, and residents often finished an entire module’s reading section plus the pre- and post-tests within 30 minutes, it is uncertain whether the readings were actually completed.

Keywords: Challenger, education