Implementation of a virtual course on critical reading in medical students during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: In the career of medical surgeon of the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi (MED-UASLP), a critical reading course (CLC) is taught using the OPMER tool, which is the acronym for Objective, Population, Methodology, Statistics, Results. The course is face-to-face and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was given virtually.

Objective: To determine if the CLC given virtually to second semester MED-UASLP students allows them to correctly evaluate the methodology of a scientific article.

Method: The CLC was given through Moodle and Teams platforms to 60 second semester students of MED-UASLP, without previous knowledge of critical reading, during the subject of Medical Informatics (May 2022). The course lasted 10 hours, divided into 5 hours of synchronous virtual class in Teams (Microsoft) and 5 hours of related activities in Moodle. At the end of the course, students reviewed the methodology of a scientific article (in real time) using the OPMER tool and gave a grade that was contrasted with that of the course teachers.

Results: An average of 15.06 points was obtained with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 18. 30% (18) of the students agreed with the teachers’ group score of 16 points, 32% (19) of the students scored ±1 of the teachers’ group score and 18% (11) of the students scored ±2 of the teachers’ group score, 20% of the students (12) were outside this range.

Conclusions: Using a virtual CLC, a result similar to the teachers’ group was demonstrated when evaluating the methodology of an article, indicating a probable usefulness for teaching critical reading skills in this modality.