Continuous Education of Basic Life Support (BLS) through Social Media; a Quasi-Experimental Study

INTRODUCTION: It is imperative, if not fundamental, for medical students to receive continuing education in Basic life support (BLS). This present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of continuing education using social media in this regard. METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study, a questionnaire containing 20 items about BLS awareness was completed by the interns who were trained monthly in the emergency medicine training course. Then half of the interns received distant education through Telegram software up to three months, and the other did not receive any further education. Again, both groups completed the questionnaire at the end of the third month. RESULTS: 100 medical interns with the mean age of 25.05 ± 1.26 years were allocated to two groups of 50 subjects (65.0% female). Two groups were similar regarding the mean age (p = 0.304), gender (p = 0.529), mean awareness score at the beginning of the study (p = 0.916), and average pre-internship exam score (p = 0.080). The mean awareness score of medical interns increased significantly in intervention (11.44 ± 2.37 to 14.88 ± 1.97, p < 0.0001) and control (11.38 ± 3.22 to 12.54 ± 3.04, p < 0.0001) groups at second examination. But mean difference of awareness score, before and after the education, was significantly higher in intervention group (3.44 ± 1.48 versus 1.16 ± 1.51; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The increase in the BLS awareness score was significantly higher in medical interns who were continuously educated using Telegram social media software.