Comparative study of virtual and traditional teaching methods on the theoretical course of ECG in medical students of emergency department

The emergency ward is one of the most important parts of the hospital, where people's activities can have many effects on the performance of other wards of the hospital and the satisfaction of patients. Changing lifestyle and transformation of cyberspace into one of the pillars of modern life has had a great impact on learning and teaching methods. To compare the level of theoretical emergency learning in medical students with two virtual and traditional methods.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 88 medical students who started their emergency rotation in two hospitals of Guilan University of Medical sciences in 2021. Both groups participated in the same exam before and after the basics of electrocardiogram (ECG), normal ECG, types of blocks, diagnosis of MI and arrhythmias education. After collecting the information from the questionnaires, the data analysis was performed via SPSS software with a significant P<0.05.

Out of 88 students, 56.8% were female, and 43.2% were male. The mean and median knowledge score before and after education was statistically significant in two groups (P<0.001). The virtual group represented a higher average score of knowledge than the traditional group. The student’ grade point average affected the result of the score after education (P=0.019, β =0.234).

The use of virtual education methods in combination with traditional methods might help to improve the learning process and knowledge of medical students in emergency department.