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A Randomized Controlled Trial of Simulation-Based Teaching versus Traditional Instruction in Medicine: A Pilot Study among Clinical Medical Students

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Abstract

Objective: To compare simulator-based teaching with traditional instruction among clinical medical students. Methods: Randomized controlled trial with written pre-post testing. Third-year medical students (n = 38) received either a myocardial infarction (MI) simulation followed by a reactive airways disease (RAD) lecture, or a RAD simulation followed by an MI lecture. Results: Mean pre-post test score improvement was seen across teaching modalities (overall change score [simulation] = 8.8 [95% CI = 2.3–15.3], pretest [62.7]; change score [lecture] = 11.3 [95% CI = 5.7–16.9], pretest [59.7]). However, no significant differences were observed between simulator-based teaching and lecture, in either subject domain. Conclusions: After a single instructional session for clinical medical students, differences between simulator-based teaching and lecture could not be established by the written test protocols used in this pilot. Future studies should consider the effects of iterative exposure assessed by clinical performance measures across multiple centers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Medical Simulation, Boston

    James A. Gordon, Daniel B. Raemer, John Pawlowski, William E. Hurford & Jeffrey B. Cooper

  2. G.S. Beckwith Gilbert and Katharine S. Gilbert Medical Education Program in Medical Simulation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    James A. Gordon & John Pawlowski

  3. Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    James A. Gordon

  4. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madiason, WI, USA

    David W. Shaffer

  5. Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Daniel B. Raemer, William E. Hurford & Jeffrey B. Cooper

  6. Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    John Pawlowski

  7. Department of Anesthesia, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    William E. Hurford

  8. Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Clinics 115, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    James A. Gordon

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  1. James A. Gordon
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  2. David W. Shaffer
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  3. Daniel B. Raemer
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  4. John Pawlowski
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  5. William E. Hurford
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  6. Jeffrey B. Cooper
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Correspondence to James A. Gordon.

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Gordon, J.A., Shaffer, D.W., Raemer, D.B. et al. A Randomized Controlled Trial of Simulation-Based Teaching versus Traditional Instruction in Medicine: A Pilot Study among Clinical Medical Students. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract 11, 33–39 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-004-7346-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-004-7346-7

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