Comparison of an Online vs. Live Course on Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABMs) Erin Adams, MS2 Marguerite Duane, MD, MHA Georgetown University School of Medicine
Disclosures We have nothing to declare for this study.
Background: Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABMs) Provide a way for women to use observational methods to track their fertility and reproductive health. Important component for well-rounded education in women’s health. 22% - 61% of women express an interest. 1,2,3 1.Fehring RJ. The future of professional education in natural family planning. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2004;33(1): Stanford, J. B., et al. Women’s interest in natural family planning. Journal of Family Practice 1998; 46 (1): Leonard CJ, Chavira W, Coonrod DV, Har KW, Bay RC. Survey of attitudes regarding natural family planning in an urban Hispanic population. Contraception ; 74:
FABM Effectiveness
Background: The Selective The objective of the course is to give students a comprehensive understanding of each fertility awareness based method and their application in women’s health. –First class students and 13 presenters – student; live lectures – GUSOM students; streamed to 5 UTSW students – students; lectures recorded – students; 1 st online course
2015 Selective Syllabus Week 1: Pre-test, FABMs History/Overview Week 2: Billings, STM, & Marquette Methods Week 3: Creighton, SDM, Two-Day, & LAM Methods Week 4: Women and Couples Experiences (Panel) Week 5: NaPro Technology & NFP in non-English speaking populations Week 6: Teen Star Week 7: Using FABMs in clinical practice Week 8: Final presentations and exam
Why students take the selective More of a reason Less of a reason
Student Familiarity with Methods N= 21
In-Person vs. Online First class students & 13 presenters students; lectures recorded students; 1 st online course In addition to lectures both years students had required readings and attended 2 mandatory in-person panels Every student took a pre-test and a final –Pre-test 20 questions; Final 60 questions
Pre-Test and Final Analysis 2014 Individual Improvement 2015 Individual Improvement
Results Overall improvement in both in-person and online courses. Both years had statistically significant changes between pre- test and final –In-person: median difference 0.41 (95% CI ) –Online: median difference (95% CI ) No statistical significance in difference between pre-test scores of the two years Significant difference between the two years in final scores
Limitations Small class sizes Varying prior background knowledge about FABMs First year the online course was given while in-person had since 2010 to be adjusted and improved Final and pre-test lengths must be different
2015 Student Feedback “I definitely feel like I learned a lot in this course, especially considering the topic is something we normally would never learn about in medical school.” “I often had questions after the lectures, but didn't have the opportunity to voice these questions to the person giving the lecture.” “Some of what we learned should be incorporated into the Sexual Development and Reproduction module.” “It would have been helpful, if online lectures are used in the future, to have one other introduction lecture or to go more in depth on the first day lecture so that the basics of the methods make sense before starting the online lectures.” “ I am very thankful I took this class. I ended up learning so much and really growing in my perspective of women's health.”
Future Goals Extend the study to a larger group of students. Study the long term retention rate of FABM information in medical students who learned in the classroom versus online. Look at the implications on other topics not traditionally taught in medical school classrooms. Make online course available to all interested students and medical professionals.
Main goal is to teach physicians and healthcare professionals the basic principles of FABMs Medical Schools are a branch of this targeted population More recently there has been a movement towards self-directed learning
Thank you Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Family Medicine Education Consortium, Inc. Dr. Marguerite Duane Alexis McClellan Dr. Ling Cai and Bingsong Zhang FACTSaboutFertility.org
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