Telepraxis: An Innovative Educational Method

Background: "Telephone" has been used as an educational device for educational purposes in several university centers in the world. Nowadays, "Teleconference", "Teleconsultation", "Telemedicine" and "Computerized methods", are common educational methods.Telephone in this study was used as an educational means to practice certain educational and professional subjects.Purpose: In this study, telephone was used to practice important educational points by medical students. The method was called "Telepraxis" and the present paper introduces this innovative educational experience and reports the results of measuring the rate of students’ satisfaction.Method: In this study 4 different educational courses were presented to 508 students at pre-hospital, clerkship, and residency stages. The program was implemented for 15 sessions and at the end of each session, we inquired students’ viewpoints about our suggested method by using a Lickert’s type questionnaire that was designed with 24 characteristics of an effective educational method. We calculated the students’ satisfaction index and compared the scores applying student T-Test.Results: The participants’ mean satisfaction index was 84.4%, which was significantly higher than those of unsatisfied, (p<.001). The satisfaction index for the students in clerkship stage was higher than that of the prehospital students or residents.Conclusion: Telepraxis in 4 courses of primary surgery, health cares, semiology, and CPR skills, was approved by the learners on all the 24 traits of an effective teaching method.