Utilization of Educational Blogs to Supplement Self-Directed Learning and Small Group Based Didactic Sessions

摘要

Background: The current generation of learner uses freeopen access medical education (FOAMed) such as blog posts,podcasts, Twitter and Facebook alongside traditional teachingmethods such as textbooks and conference lectures to advancetheir knowledge of emergency medicine. The emergencymedicine residency curriculum at The Ohio State Universitylacked any formal education to guide participation in theFOAMed community. We developed a system to publishregular posts on a departmental blog site to promote digitalscholarship.Educational Objectives:1. Critically evaluate online sources for accuracy andapplicability to emergency medicine practice.2. To generate scholarly articles or blog postsappropriate for an emergency medicine audience.3. Develop digital professionalism.Curricular Design: Four residents were recruited aseditors for the department blog site. They worked withthe residency to generate scholarly blog articles with agoal to post one article per week. Topics could be relatedto the conference curriculum, interesting clinical cases,recent publications, or other areas of personal interest. Theresident editors generated draft blog posts and then attendingphysicians edited for accuracy and readability. Attendingeditors removed any potential protected health information.Published posts were distributed on the department list serveand advertised on twitter. Since inception in September 2015,residents and attendings published 10 blog posts with 3427views and 1995 visitors from 10 different countries. Residentsthat have participated in the process have felt a great sense ofaccomplishment and were engaged in the material more thantypical lecture style teaching.Impact/Effectiveness: The modern resident engages withonline learning and discussion. Medical students and residentsneed instruction on how to navigate this online community andhow to be active participates in digital scholarship. Throughorganizing regular posting on a departmental blog, a fewresident editors have felt great accomplishment, honed skillsof digital scholarship, and developed digital professionalism.Limitations include reaching the entire resident body, as onlymotived and interested learners participate regularly in the blogpost production and discussion.