APPLIED RESEARCH: Effectiveness of Lectures Attended via Interactive Video Conferencing Versus In-Person in Preparing Third-Year Internal Medicine Clerkship Students for Clinical Practice Examinations (CPX)

BACKGROUND: The current practice in medical education is to place students at off-site locations. The effectiveness of these students attending remote lectures using interactive videoconferencing needs to be evaluated. PURPOSE: To determine whether lecture content covering clinical objectives is learned by medical students located at remote sites. METHODS: During the University of Vermont medicine clerkship, 52 medical students attended lectures both in person and via 2-way videoconferencing over a telemedicine network. The study used a crossover design, such that all students attended half of the lectures in person and half using videoconferencing. At the end of the clerkship, students were assessed via a Clinical Practice Examination (CPX), with each student completing 1 exam for material learned in person and 1 for material learned over telemedicine. RESULTS: Exam scores did not differ for the 2 lecture modes, with a mean score of 76% for lectures attended in person and a mean score of 78% for lectures attended via telemedicine (p = 0.66). CONCLUSIONS: Students learn content focused on clinical learning objectives as well using videoconferencing as they do in the traditional classroom setting.