Using Slack to Teach Residents
May 7, 2020
Written by Clay Smith
Spoon Feed
Use of Slack by residents increased their confidence in interpreting radiographs. All the residents who took part found this type of education beneficial.
Why does this matter?
Asynchronous learning allows adult learners to study when it is convenient for them. A program like Slack also allows interaction and discussion of cases. How effective would this be in learning a visually rich topic like emergency radiology?
Be a Slack-er
Two senior EM residents put together case vignettes and key radiographs to allow for asynchronous learning of radiographic imaging pearls on Slack. Residents were surveyed pre- and post-intervention and had significantly greater confidence in interpreting radiographs after participating in this. After 9 months, 100% of the participating residents found it beneficial. It also improved their confidence in interpreting radiographic imaging. Slack has advantages of being free and invitation only. So, the residents could feel that their discussion of cases was kept within the group and not public, such as occurs on social media. The application of this technology is far reaching. Resident confidence is a weak outcome measure, but it is a starting point to look at more meaningful outcomes, such as the impact of such an intervention on patient care.
Source
An Asynchronous Curriculum for Teaching Practical Interpretation Skills of Clinical Images to Residents in Emergency Medicine. J Emerg Med. 2020 Mar 24. pii: S0736-4679(19)31138-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2019.11.046. [Epub ahead of print]
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