Open AccessAn expert-led and artificial intelligence system-assisted tutoring course to improve the confidence of Chinese medical interns in suturing and ligature skills: a prospective pilot study
Author(s) -
YingYing Yang,
Boaz Shulruf
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of educational evaluation for health professions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.397
H-Index - 9
ISSN - 1975-5937
DOI - 10.3352/jeehp.2019.16.7
Subject(s) - formative assessment , expert system , medical education , dreyfus model of skill acquisition , computer science , artificial intelligence , medicine , psychology , mathematics education , economics , economic growth
Purpose Lack of confidence in suturing/ligature skills due to insufficient practice and assessments is common among novice Chinese medical interns. This study aimed to improve the skill acquisition of medical interns through a new intervention program.Methods In addition to regular clinical training, expert-led or expert-led plus artificial intelligence (AI) system tutoring courses were implemented during the first 2 weeks of the surgical block. Interns could voluntarily join the regular (no additional tutoring), expert-led tutoring, or expert-led+AI tutoring groups freely. In the regular group, interns (n=25) did not receive additional tutoring. The expert-led group received 3-hour expert-led tutoring and in-training formative assessments after 2 practice sessions. After a similar expert-led course, the expert-led+AI group (n=23) practiced and assessed their skills on an AI system. Through a comparison with the internal standard, the system automatically recorded and evaluated every intern’s suturing/ligature skills. In the expert-led+AI group, performance and confidence were compared between interns who participated in 1, 2, or 3 AI practice sessions. Results The end-of-surgical block objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) performance and self-assessed confidence in suturing/ligature skills were highest in the expert-led+AI group. In comparison with the expert-led group, the expert-led+AI group showed similar performance in the in-training assessment and greater improvement in the end-of-surgical block OSCE. In the expert-led+AI group, the best performance and highest post-OSCE confidence were noted in those who engaged in 3 AI practice sessions. Conclusion This pilot study demonstrated the potential value of incorporating an additional expert-led+AI system–assisted tutoring course into the regular surgical curriculum.