Single, daily multiple-choice-question: A microlearning tool for a core emergency medicine clerkship

ABSTRACT

Learning Objectives: We sought to deliver interspersed, concise teaching points on core content while providing direction for additional reading. Using pre-scheduled learning sets messaged to students each morning, we also hoped to create a more cohesive and dedicated learning experience. The breadth and depth of Emergency Medicine (EM) can be both attractive and daunting for medical students exposed to the specialty on clinical rotations. For clerkship directors and education faculty, it can be difficult to review a representative amount of content in the short duration of a clerkship. For students, it can be challenging to know where and what to read for end-of-clerkship exams. Furthermore, social-distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic limited in-person instruction, potentially contributing to perceptions of decreased formal teaching. Creative use of interspersed learning sets can provide direction for and supplement the clerkship curriculum. EMED Daily was created as part of a required EM clerkship at Stanford. Each EMED Daily is a single, multiplechoice-question (MCQ) bundled with relevant medical and procedural knowledge, as well as testing strategy for core EM content. Online survey software is used to automate the delivery of the next EMED Daily each morning. Building on concepts of “pushed” delivery from eLearning and digestible teaching moments from Microlearning, the EMED Daily allows students to engage in retrieval practice and review curated material while eating breakfast, brushing their teeth, or walking to shift. Learning sets reflect core topics from the Clerkship Directors in EM (CDEM) medical student curriculum and include links to free open access medical education (FOAMEd) resources. MCQs are not graded individually, but a completion rate of 75% is required for credit towards a final grade. The EMED Daily has been well received by students. In 6 months, the average completion rate was 96%, well above the required amount. Students commented that the EMED Daily sets “were simple and good for framing,” and “a great way to review a small amount of info every day.” Additionally, as COVID policies affected the type of patients students could see, question sets were adjusted to supplement learning as needed.