Assessing the Impact of Video-based Training on Laceration Repair: A Comparison to the Traditional Workshop Method.

Medical school curricula in the United States have been more recently focusing on the early integration of clinical sciences and clinical experiences into medical students’ pre-clinical years. For many medical students, the common mode of instruction for developing the procedural skill of laceration repair is largely from live workshop training requiring a significant amount of physical resources and physician time to train the students. This study compares the effectiveness of video-based learning (VBL) to traditional live workshop learning (LWL) on student laceration repair performance. Review of literature We performed a review of the literature with searches in PubMed such as video, suturing, medical education, learning, medical students and found several relevant articles published in the last 10 years. Several studies have investigated integrating video modules into medical curriculum and overall, findings have been controversial. One study aimed to identify willingness to learn from video modules in virtual patient encounters. A total of 120 students took a post-encounter survey with majority preferring text-based learning over video. However, the video modules were perceived to be more thorough and with higher detail. In a second study, third-year medical students used VBLs for their pediatrics rotation and video modules were statistically associated with higher recognition of principal symptoms, appropriate diagnosis and consistency between observed symptoms and diagnosis. No studies have been found that used video modules for suturing technique.