Previous studies from this department have shown that final year undergraduate medical students have only a limited capacity to interpret spirometry and a poor understanding of its use as a diagnostic tool.1 One hundred and thirty seven final year student volunteers, recruited four months before their final examinations, were randomised into one of three teaching groups, each of which was taught the same factual content which covered the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of lung diseases and interpretation of spirometry. For group 1 (n = 40), this was delivered in the format of an interactive teaching session with an experienced teacher of respiratory medicine. Group 2 (n = 40) received a didactic lecture from the same member of staff. Group 3 (n = 57) were given a limited period of time to study the same material on their own under supervision, but without opportunities for interaction with a staff member, using a purpose created WebCT computer package.

Students completed a series of short answer questions before the teaching session in order to determine their baseline respiratory knowledge and understanding of spirometry. After the teaching, they completed a different set of short answer questions, covering the same content. There was no difference in the baseline capacity to interpret spirometry reports between the three groups (see table).

The group using the computer assisted learning (CAL) package performed significantly better on spirometry than both other groups (see table), despite the fact that, when asked, 82% of students identified an interactive session with an expert teacher as their preferred method of learning. This study emphasises the potential value of CAL in clinical teaching.