Continuing medical education for attending physicians in anesthesia: Feasibility of an innovative blended learning approach

Abstract

Continuing medical education plays a pivotal role in fostering and upholding the standard of excellence in medicine. Both SPOC (small private online course) and BOPPPS (bridge-in, learning objective, pretest, participatory learning, posttest, and summary) methodologies are rooted in the same educational and learning theories, emphasizing active student engagement, interaction, and feedback. Using ultrasound-guided spinal anesthesia as an exemplar, we aimed to investigate the feasibility of blended teaching (combination of BOPPPS and SPOC) for anesthesiology clinicians and explore trainees’ and trainers’ perspectives towards the innovative method. Twenty-seven attending anesthesiologists were randomly divided into experimental group (n = 14, blended teaching method) and control group (n = 13, traditional teaching method). The questionnaire was administered before and a week post-training. Their operative skills (measured by operation time) were assessed. The students’ cognitive evaluation of the blended teaching mode was conducted in the experimental group. The experimental group demonstrated notably higher theoretical scores compared to the control group [(46.42 ± 5.345) vs (41.92 ± 5.219), t = 2.213, P < .05]. The operation time in the experimental group was significantly shorter than that in the control group [(84.79 ± 28.450) seconds vs (114.23 ± 35.607) seconds, t = −2.383, P < .05]. Most participants preferred blended learning as it was more effective than traditional learning. Suggestions for enhancement included enhanced online interactivity with trainers and the inclusion of case analysis. Integration of blended teaching incorporating BOPPPS and SPOC methodologies holds promise for enhancing the efficiency of skill training among anesthesiologists. Blended learning may become a viable and well-received option among anesthesia clinicians in China.