Comparison of ultrasonography learning between distance teaching and traditional methodology. An educational systematic review

BACKGROUND: Use of the web for radiological education is an obvious application. Many computer-based teaching materials have been developed over recent years, and e-learning is becoming increasingly popular in medical schools. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the effectiveness of distance-learning and/or e-learning, m-learning and web-based methods are equivalent to traditional methods. DESIGN AND SETTING: Systematic review of comparative studies of teaching techniques guided by Best Evidence Medical Education. METHODS: A search was carried out in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Tripdatabase, CINAHL and LILACS online databases in April 2020, for original publications in all languages. The following MeSH terms were used: Ultrasonography; Teleradiology; Telemedicine; Education, Medical; Teaching; and Simulation Training; along with the terms e-learning, m-learning and web-based. All eligible studies were assessed using the Kirkpatrick model and Buckley's quality indicators. RESULTS: The search in the databases and a manual search resulted in 4549 articles, of which 16 had sufficient methodological quality for their inclusion. From analysis of these data, it was observed that teaching of ultrasonography using telemedicine methods is similar to the traditional method, except for venous access procedures, for which the studies did not show agreement. CONCLUSION: We found that learning via telemedicine methodologies presents great acceptance among students, besides demonstrating quality similar to the traditional method. Thus, at least at the moment, this has the capacity to serve as an important adjunct in the teaching of ultrasonography. REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/CGUPA at the OPENSCIENCE Framework.