A Novel Serious Game As an Alternative for Teaching Basic Point-of-Care Transthoracic Echocardiography Skills (SLOPE)
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About
The goal of this clinical trial is to compare different digital learning methods for teaching basic skills in point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography to medical students.
The main question it aims to answer is:
• Is a novel digital learning tool, such as a serious video game, non-inferior to traditional ultrasound simulator teaching methods in the context of basic point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography skills training?
Participants will train basic point-of-care ultrasound skills using either a traditional basic ultrasound simulator course or the serious video game "Underwater". Both methods focus on training hand-eye coordination, which is particularly important in transthoracic echocardiography. To compare the performance of the participants, a baseline assessment will be performed before and a final assessment after the two-week training period.
Full description
Point-of-care ultrasound education follows non-standardized teaching and learning methods. In many cases, ultrasound is practiced directly on patients without proper training, or ultrasound simulators are used. However, these simulators are expensive to purchase and are not always readily available to students. In addition, there are a growing number of new digital tools, such as serious video games, that aim to deliver the same content in a more accessible and cost-effective manner. However, in the field of point-of-care echocardiography, there is still little scientific evidence to support their use.
This single-blind, prospective, randomized, controlled, non-inferiority trial aims to demonstrate the non-inferiority of a serious video game compared to conventional simulator-based training of basic echocardiography skills to make ultrasound training more accessible to every trainee.
Only medical students who already have the necessary anatomical knowledge but no experience with ultrasound diagnostics will be recruited to participate in this study. Participants will attend a 90-minute workshop to learn the basics of point-of-care echocardiography. They will then be required to perform standardized transthoracic echocardiography before and after a two-week training period, which will be scored by blinded experts. During the training phase, one group will practice the hand-eye coordination required for echocardiography using an ultrasound simulator, while the second group will practice the same content using a serious video game. In addition, questionnaires will be used to collect additional data from the participants.
Enrollment
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Inclusion criteria
- Medical student at the Medical University of Vienna (Medicine Degree Program)
- ≥18 years
- Basic knowledge of anatomy (completed Block 2 of the MUV curriculum)
Exclusion criteria
- Previous experience using an ultrasound device
Trial design
Primary purpose
Allocation
Interventional model
Masking
120 participants in 2 patient groups
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Central trial contact
Josef Michael Lintschinger, MD; Christina Hafner, MD, PhD
Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov
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