Effectiveness of tutorial videos combined with online classes in surgical knotting course during COVID-19 pandemic: A cohort study

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has changed medical education from offline courses to online formats. Nowadays, offline skill demonstration lessons becomes unfeasible. This study assess the effectiveness of tutorial videos and online classes in delivering knowledge and skill in basic surgical knotting to medical students. METHODS: A group of medical students (n = 95) was divided into two groups: the first group was allowed to watch the tutorial video that we have been made and uploaded into YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyfOVGhAeVA) while the other group did not watch the video. All participants submitted a demonstration video to show their knotting skill. These videos were graded and made into the first evaluation. Then, all participants attended online classes for the surgical knotting skills via Zoom application. Participants submitted another demonstration video after the online classes. The videos were assessed, and the results were analyzed. RESULTS: The experimental group (n = 50) who watched the tutorial video prior to class scored higher in the first video than the control group (n = 39) with a meanscore of 10.850 versus 7.462, p = 0.000*, In the second video, the assessment showed no significant difference between the two groups with meanscore of 11.220 versus 10.897, p = 0.706. CONCLUSION: The combination of tutorial videos and online classes is the optimal teaching method for surgical knotting skills.