Comparison of OSCE scores of surgical clinical education after face-to-face vs. blended learning methods among undergraduate medical students.

Objectives: To compare the efficacy of blended learning with contemporary face-to-face teaching among medical students.

Methods: The quasi-experimental, cross-over study was conducted at the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from March to August 2014, and comprised third year medical students posted in the surgical units who were divided into two groups. In the first month, group A was taught by blended learning (BL), while group B was taught by face-to-face (f2f) teaching. Both groups were assessed using objective structured clinical examination. In the second month, the teaching method was flipped for the groups with new learning contents. Assessment tool remained the same. Data was analysed using SPSS 23.

Results: Thirty-one students completed OSCE in group A (BL) and 28 in group B (f2f). The mean score in group B was 78.01±13.29 compared to 85.12±13.77 in group A (p=0.49).

Conclusions: Blended surgical learning was found to be more effective compared to face-to-face teaching.