Background

The role of the electronic book (e-book) is a useful adjunct to traditional teaching methods. Our aim is to study the use of the e-book for teaching effects.

Methods

This study group was introduced to learning evidence-based medicine (EBM) from an interactive e-book available on the Internet, and a control group using a PowerPoint presentation. Questionnaires (21 items) assessed learners’ EBM skills before and after the learning. EBM learning sessions were 20–30 minutes long, followed by students’ feedback.

Results

Physicians in the study group ranked “Keyword filters increase the quality of the article” more highly than in the control group (P = 0.030). In database searching techniques, it was shown that “A broader discovery of useful resources” was more beneficial (P = 0.016). In literature appraisal, it was shown that “Can I select the best literature I want?” was more beneficial (P = 0.002). Teaching effect, measured by student feedback, was better in the study group than in the control group for the items, “I am satisfied with this lesson,” “The teaching was of high quality,” “This was a good teaching method,” and “It aroused my interest in EBM.” There was no improvement in the teaching effectiveness of senior physicians with more than 10 years’ experience.

Conclusions

The use of interactive “e-books” in clinical teaching can enhance teachers’ EBM skills and teaching. It is clinically useful but varies in usefulness depending on teachers’ seniority.

The teachers created an answerable question using PICO model from the true case in the hospital and searched the electronic databases available at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH) before the study. They attempted to consolidate the evidence to come to a conclusion and make a recommendation for the question. We then gave them access to the e-book or PowerPoint presentation and encouraged them to practice using it. They re-examined the information they had written by searching, consolidating evidence, and correcting the recommendation. After this, the assessment questionnaires as in Table 2 were completed. The study group utilized the e-book and the control group the PowerPoint presentation without the e-book.