Purpose: Student performance in a comprehensive clinical simulation exercise at the end of the 3rd year had demonstrated some deficiencies in oxygen delivery methods. A tutorial exercise was developed to remedy this issue. This study assessed if an e-learning intervention improved the student's competence in oxygen delivery methods during the comprehensive clinical simulation lab. Methods: An independent study tutorial describing proper oxygen delivery methods was developed and made available to all 3rd year students through our course management system. The tutorial program consisted of a pre-test, video illustrating the proper use of oxygen delivery equipment and a post-test. The pre-test was required to be completed before the video was made available and the post-test was only available after the video was viewed. The post-test and the course evaluation included questions regarding student satisfaction. Video recording of the group simulation exercises were made of the classes before the tutorial was introduced and after for comparison. Results: Of the 217 students in the course, 136 (63%) completed the pre-test and 119 of those completed the post-test. There was a significant improvement in performance on the post-test compared to the pre-test (87% ± 14 vs. 61% ± 13; paired t-test, p < 0.001). There was an overwhelming perception of value with 92% responding favorably that the program increased their knowledge of oxygen delivery methods. A large majority (88%) were satisfied with the ease of use of the tutorial video. Evaluation of the video records did not reveal any appreciable differences, though a number of the recordings were not useable and could not be assessed with our scoring rubric. Conclusions: The results of the study demonstrate that students who utilized the tutorial program improved their knowledge of oxygen delivery methods. A limitation of this study is that we were unable to ascertain if the knowledge translated into an improved performance in the simulation exercise. This study does show that an independent e-learning module can enhance medical students' education.

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