Improved Understanding of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Concepts Through Targeted Case-Based Educational Intervention: A Pilot Study

Objectives Given the complex anatomy and pathophysiology of urogynecologic disorders, obstetrics and gynecology residents can have difficulty learning the subject's principles. There are no standardized resources for educators in this subspecialty. We hypothesized that our case-based educational intervention was associated with enhanced knowledge and greater resident satisfaction versus traditional urogynecology lectures. Methods This is a prospective study involving 19 obstetrics and gynecology residents at a single institution. Residents participated in three 1-hour case-based lectures, which included prelecture and postlecture topic knowledge assessments. Nonparametric Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare the before and after responses. Resident satisfaction was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. Results The median scores for the pretraining and posttraining assessments of resident urogynecology subject knowledge were 8 (5-10) and 10 (8-10), respectively. A stratified analysis was performed based on postgraduate year (PGY) and median prelectures and postlectures scores showed statistically significance (P < 0.001). Analysis of the PGY subgroups demonstrated statistical significance in PGY1 (P = 0.004), PGY2 (P = 0.008), and PGY3 (P = 0.03). However, the PGY4 subgroup (P = 0.06) did not reach statistical significance. All residents regardless of PGY level either agreed or strongly agreed that the case-based educational intervention enhanced resident knowledge, engagement, and clarity of the relevant teaching points and decreased resident stress about urogynecology topics. Conclusions The case-based educational intervention significantly improved resident knowledge in urogynecology and enhanced resident satisfaction with this teaching method versus traditional lectures.