Kristine Rasmussen|José S Marcano Belisario|Petra A. Wark|Joseph Antonio Molina|Stewart Lee Loong|Živa Coti?|Nikolaos Papachristou|Eva Riboli Sasco|Lorainne Tudor Car|Eve Marie Musulanov|Holger Kunz|Yanfeng Zhang|Pradeep Paul George|Bee Hoon Heng|Erica Lynette Wheeler|Najeeb Al Shorbaji|Igor Švab|Rifat Atun|Azeem Majeed|Josip Car
Online eLearning for undergraduates in health professions: A systematic review of the impact on knowledge, skills, attitudes and satisfaction.
Imperial College London|SingHealth|Imperial College London|Imperial College London|Imperial College London|Imperial College London|Radboud University Nijmegen|Imperial College London|Imperial College London|Imperial College London|Capital Institute of Pediatrics|SingHealth|SingHealth|World Health Organization|Imperial College London|University of Ljubljana|Harvard Global Health Institute|Imperial College London|Nanyang Technological University|Imperial College London
health systems worldwide facing shortages health professional workforce several studies demonstrated direct correlation availability health workers coverage health services population health outcomes address shortage online elearning increasingly adopted health professionals education inform policymaking online elearning need determine effectivenesswe performed systematic review effectiveness online elearning comprehensive search major databases randomised controlled trials compared online elearning traditional learning alternative learning methods search period january 2000 august 2013 included articles primarily focused students knowledge skills satisfaction attitudes toward elearning costeffectiveness adverse effects secondary outcomes two reviewers independently extracted data included studies due significant heterogeneity among included studies presented results narrative synthesisfiftynine studies including 6750 students enrolled medicine dentistry nursing physical therapy pharmacy studies met inclusion criteria twelve 50 studies testing knowledge gains found significantly higher gains online elearning intervention groups compared traditional learning whereas 27 detect significant differences found mixed results eleven studies test differences six studies detected significantly higher skill gains online elearning intervention groups whilst 3 studies testing skill gains detect differences groups 1 study showed mixed results twelve studies tested students attitudes 8 studies showed differences attitudes preferences online elearning students satisfaction measured 29 studies 4 studies showed higher satisfaction online elearning 20 studies showed difference satisfaction online elearning traditional learning risk bias high several included studiesthe current evidence base suggests online elearning equivalent possibly superior traditional learning findings present potential incentive policy makers cautiously encourage adoption respecting heterogeneity among studies