A study on how using an interactive multimedia e-book improves teachers’ ability to teach evidence-based medicine depending on their seniority

BACKGROUND: Teaching evidence-based medicine (EBM) is not an easy task. The role of the electronic book (e-book) is a useful supplement to traditional methods for improving skills. Our aim is to use an interactive e-book or PowerPoint to evaluate instructors’ teaching effects on EBM. METHODS: Our study group was introduced to learning EBM using an interactive e-book available on the Internet, while the control group used a PowerPoint presentation. We adopted the Modified Fresno test to assess EBM skills both before and after their learning. EBM teaching sessions via e-book or PowerPoint were 20–30 min long, followed by students’ feedback. We adopted Student’s t-test to compare teachers’ evaluation of their EBM skills prior to the class and the students’ assessment of the teachers’ instruction. We also adopted repeated measures ANCOVA to compare teachers’ evaluation of their EBM skills using the Fresno test both before and after the class. RESULTS: We observed no difference regarding EBM skills between the two groups prior to their experimental learning, which was assessed by the Modified Fresno test. After learning, physicians in the study group ranked higher in choosing a case to explain which kind of research design was used for the study type of the question and explaining their choice (P = 0.024) as assessed by the post-test to pre-test Fresno test. Teaching effect was better in the e-book group than in the control group for the items, “I am satisfied with this lesson,” “The teaching was of high quality,” “This was a good teaching method,” and “It aroused my interest in EBM.” However, no differences were observed between the two groups in physicians who had more than 10 years’ experience. CONCLUSIONS: The use of interactive e-books in clinical teaching can enhance a teacher’s EBM skills, though not in more senior physicians. This may suggest that teaching methodology and activities differ for teachers’ varying years of experience. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-021-02984-2.