| dc.description.abstract | Lack of formal nutrition education in the medical school curriculum has been a key component of barriers in presenting weight loss recommendations to overweight/obese patients, as reported by practicing physicians. Web-based learning tools are becoming more common in medical schools due to their information-laden, time-constrained curriculum as a means to supplement in-class lectures. A web-based workshop and webinar series (WBWWS) was developed as a continuation project including the creation of a three-part online webinar lecture series with corresponding pre and post-tests, as well as updating and revising the previous web-based workshop website content.
The WBWWS was pilot tested on first to fourth year medical students and included information regarding nutrition education and the overweight/obese patient. A Pre-Test Evaluation Survey (PrES) included general participant information questions, as well as specific nutrition attitudes and perceived self-efficacy ranking statements, which was accessed as the first component of the workshop. A Post-Test Evaluation Survey (PoES) was completed after the participants viewed all webinars and workshop content. Similarly, pre-tests were completed for each of the three-webinar lectures, followed by viewing the lecture, and finished with a post-test to measure improvement. Paired Samples T-tests were performed to evaluate changes for each pre to post-test, and frequency and descriptive analyses were obtained for portions of the PrES/PoES.
Each of the three online webinar lectures: Nutrition Assessment (n=14), Obesity and Its Role in Disease (n=13), and Nutritional Recommendations (n=14) showed significance (p<0.0001) for improvement from pre-test to post-test after viewing the webinars. The Nutrition Attitudes questionnaire, as a part of the PrES and PoES, did not change significantly after the intervention, but Nutrition Attitudes4 suggested the medical school participants still feel as though they need more nutrition training in addition to the WBWWS. The Self-Efficacy questionnaire, also part of the PrES and PoES, showed significance for improvement (p<0.0001) after intervention. The self-efficacy questions were divided into three subscales regarding their own self-efficacy of medical knowledge as it relates to nutrition, their likeliness to refer to dietitians and find reliable online nutrition resources, and their abilities to provide nutrition/physical activity advice to overweight/obese patients. All three subscales showed significant improvement (p<0.01) from the PrES to the PoES. | en |
