Using Audience Response System Technology and PRITE Questions to Improve Psychiatric Residents' Medical Knowledge

Interactive educational tools are thought to convey material effectively. Audience Response Systems (ARSs), in particular, have been shown to improve written test scores in several residency fields but have not been previously reported in psychiatry. Such an approach may prove a valuable tool in improving test performance and medical knowledge. Psychiatry residents were required to attend 12 90-min review sessions throughout the summer that utilized previous Psychiatry Residency In-Training Exam (PRITE) questions and an ARS to provide immediate feedback and a stimulus for discussion. Preparation for these sessions was either unsupervised (phase I) or involved a personalized reading program for residents who scored below the 50th percentile. Data were evaluated with ANOVA and unpaired 2-tail tests. Overall performance on the PRITE examination improved significantly as compared to pre-intervention controls (change in score 17.0 +/- SD 16.6 vs 6.4 +/- 12.6, P = 0.0068). The addition of a personalized reading program did not improve raw score performance significantly beyond the improvement seen with ARS alone but did slightly improve percentile rank and STD score. Utilization of the interactive ARS may improve performance on PRITE examination for residents.