Presented By: Stephanie Moore-Lotridge, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Co-Authors: Ole Molvig, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Jewsin Raj, No Affiliation
Chris Schoenecker, No Affiliation
Jonathan Schoenecker, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Bryan Tompkins, No Affiliation

Purpose
Didactic lectures continue to be an essential complement to hands-on clinical experiences in a post-graduate medical education curriculum. Cognitive psychology experiments suggest that introduction of information, followed by repeated "retrieval" through active recall, is the best way to generate long-term retention. The objective of this study was to build an app-based platform for use in conjunction with resident didactic lectures to 1) promote active recall and 2) provide individualized assessment of the material in real-time.

Methods
An interactive, retrieval-based smartphone application was developed to supplement didactic lectures being presented to orthopaedic residents. The application employed gamified quizzes and survey-based functions that prompted participation from learners, allowing both the presenter and residents to receive instantaneous feedback.

Results
Residents (N=19) reported that standard didactic lectures had variably effectiveness, while lectures given in conjunction with the interactive application were rated as more effective than standard lectures (89.5%-much more effective; 10.5%-somewhat more effective). Importantly, all residents found the application easy to use (84.2%-strongly agreed; 15.8%-somewhat agreed) and noted that they would like to incorporate such a tool when they give future lectures (52.6%-very likely to use; 47.4%-somewhat likely to use). Presenting attending physicians (N=3) commented that they found the application "helpful for guiding discussion" and "identification of areas of deficiency in the audience" aligning with the real-time assessment capacity. 

Conclusions
Incorporating technology in residence lectures was both feasible and impactful to the learner's experiences. Importantly, such a tool has the capacity to promote active recall and provide individualized assessment of the materials in real-time. Based on these positive results, our team will expand the use of this smartphone application to additional residency lectures with the hope of providing longitudinal assessments.