Introduction: Mobile learning enables users to interact with educational resources while in variable locations. Medical students in residency positions need to assimilate considerable knowledge besides their practical training and we therefore aimed to evaluate the impact of using short message service via cell phone as a learning tool in residents of Obstetrics and Gynecology in our hospital. Methods: We sent short messages including data about breast cancer to the cell phones of 25 residents of gynecology and obstetrics and asked them to study a well-designed booklet containing another set of information about the disease in the same period. The rate of learning derived from the two methods was compared by pre-and post-tests and self-satisfaction assessed by a relevant questionnaire at the end of the program. Results: The mobile learning method had a significantly better effect on learning and created more interest in the subject. Conclusion: Learning via receiving SMS can be an effective and appealing method of knowledge acquisition in higher levels of education.
Introduction: Although continuing education is necessary for practicing nurses, it is very difficult to organize traditional classes because of large numbers of nurses and working shifts. Considering the increasing development of mobile electronic learning, we carried out a study to compare effects of the traditional face to face method with mobile learning delivered as text messages by cell phone. Materials and Methods: Sixty female nurses working in our hospital were randomly divided into class and short message service (SMS) groups. Lessons concerning breast cancer screening were prepared as 54 messages and sent in 17 days for the SMS group, while the class group participated in a class held by a university lecturer of breast and cancer surgery. Pre-and post-tests were undertaken for both groups at the same time; a retention test also was performed one month later. For statistical analysis, the paired T test and the independent sample T test were used with SPSS software version 16; p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Mean age and mean work experience of participants in class and SMS groups was 35.8±7.2, 9.8±6.7, 35.4±7.3, and 11.5±8.5, respectively. There was a significant increase in mean score post-tests (compared with pre-tests) in both groups (p<0.05). Although a better improvement in scores of retention tests was demonstrated in the SMS group, the mean subtraction value of the post-and pretests as well as retention-and pre-tests showed no significant difference between the 2 groups (p=0.3 and p =0.2, respectively). Conclusions: Our study shows that teaching via SMS may probably replace traditional face to face teaching for continuing education in working nurses. Larger studies are suggested to confirm this.
Background: Benefits and harms of screening mammography have been disputed in recent years. This fact, along with the limitations of mammography as well as its unavailability in all our medical centers, tempted us to evaluate the accuracy of thermography in detecting breast abnormalities. Patients and Methods: All patients who were candidates for breast biopsy were examined by both mammography and thermography before tissue sampling in a referral center between January 2013 and January 2014. We defined sensitivities and specificities, and positive predictive values (PPVs) and negative predictive values (NPVs), of the 2 modalities in comparison with histologic results as the gold standard. Results: 132 patients were included. The median age of all patients was 49.5 ± 10.3 years (range 24-75 years). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy for mammography were 80.5%, 73.3%, 85.4%, 66.0%, and 76.9%, respectively, whereas for thermography the figures were 81.6%, 57.8%, 78.9%, 61.9%, and 69.7%, respectively. Conclusion: Our study confirms that, at the present time, thermography cannot substitute for mammography for the early diagnosis of breast cancer.
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