ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- A Internet-based curriculum helped surgical residents improve their knowledge of healthcare business concepts, U.S. researchers say.
Lead author Linnea S. Hauge of the University of Michigan Medical School says medical residents say they lack instruction and feel ill prepared to run the small businesses doctors in private practice must manage.
"Residents have told us they lack instruction in practice management and the business of healthcare and feel under-prepared for when they leave the training environment," Hauge says in a statement. "Given the growing time restrictions in surgery training, the flexibility of Web-based learning is attractive to both surgical educators and residents."
The study involved 28 post-graduates in their third- to sixth-year as general and plastic surgery residents were enrolled in the program. Seventy-nine percent completed the pre-test, 11 modules, the post-test and the course evaluation by the end of one year. The pre-test and the post-test consisted of 30-item, multiple-choice exams based on a blueprint of the curricular objectives, Hauge says.
The study participants rated their Web-based learning experience as very positive, with most agreeing the content was well organized, relevant and an excellent learning experience about content not taught elsewhere in medical school or residency.
The findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
