E-learning and practical performance in musculoskeletal ultrasound: a multicentre randomized study.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of pre-course e-learning on residents' practical performance in musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS). METHODS: This was a multicentre, randomized controlled study following the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement. Residents with no or little MSUS experience were randomized to either an e-learning group or a traditional group. One week before a 2-day face-to-face MSUS course, the e-learning group received access to an interactive platform consisting of online lectures, assignments, and practical instruction videos aligned with the content of the course. The traditional group only received standard pre-course information (program, venue, and time). All participants performed a pre- and post-course practical MSUS examination and were assessed by two individual raters, blinded to the group allocation, using the validated Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skills (OSAUS) tool. RESULTS: Twenty-eight participants completed the study. There were no statistically significant differences in the pre- or post-course practical MSUS performance between the e-learning group and the traditional group; the mean pre-course OSAUS score (s.d.) in the -learning group was 5.4 (3.7) compared with 5.2 (2.4) in the traditional group (P = 0.8), whereas the post-course OSAUS score in the e-learning group was 11.1 (2.8) compared with 10.9 (2.4) in the traditional group (P = 0.8). There was a significant difference between the mean pre- and post-course scores (5.74 points, P < 0.001). The OSAUS assessment tool demonstrated good inter-rater reliability (intra-class correlation = 0.84). CONCLUSION: We found no significant impact of pre-course e-learning on novices' acquisition of practical MSUS skills. Hands-on training is of the utmost importance and improves MSUS performance significantly. The OSAUS assessment tool is an applicable tool with high interrater reliability. TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ NCT04959162.

A digital online platform for education and certification of diabetic retinopathy health care professionals in the Region of Southern Denmark.

PURPOSE: The incidence of diabetes continues to increase across the world. As the number of patients rises, so does the need for educated health care professionals. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains one of the primary complications in diabetes, and screening has proved to be a cost-effective measure to avoid DR-related blindness. Denmark has an established screening programme, but no formal training of the people responsible for analysing retinal images. METHODS: We here present an online learning platform that offers a diabetic eye screening course for health care professionals undertaking screening responsibility in the Region of Southern Denmark. The course is divided into lectures, each focussed on identifying different levels of DR or detecting related lesions. The course is free to use on-demand, contains instructional videos, interactive tests and exercises, and it is concluded with a certification test. The tools on the platform can in addition be used to generate data for research purposes, such as comparing users or experts in detection of lesions or annotating data for the development of machine learning models. RESULTS: More than 150 participants have so far completed the course, and the platform is being adopted for education in other regions of Denmark.