JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted medical education, shifting a huge portion of learning online. Social media platforms have long been well-integrated into medical education. However, Telegram’s role in medical education remains relatively unexplored. A Telegram channel titled “Telegram Education for Surgery Learning and Application (TESLA)” focusing on General Surgery education was created to supplement medical students’ learning. It encompassed weekly multiple-choice questions and resources such as illustrations and journal articles.

Objective:

This study explored students’ experience of TESLA and their views on the role of messaging apps in medical education.

Methods:

We invited thirteen medical students from Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore who were in the TESLA channel for at least a month to participate in individual semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted via video conference using an interview guide. Interviews were transcribed and analysed by two researchers using inductive thematic content analysis.

Results:

Three themes were identified: (1) Learning as a medical student, (2) The role of mobile learning in medical education and (3) TESLA for surgical education. Students shared that pandemic-related safety measures such as reduced clinic allocations and the inability to cross between wards led to a decrease in clinical exposure. Students used a variety of messaging and study apps to aid their medical education. Telegram was preferred over other messaging apps. Concerning the use of TESLA, students felt that the questions were clinically relevant and of appropriate difficulty. Students offered suggestions for improvement relating to the organization, content and format of TESLA.

Conclusions:

Medical students found TESLA useful as a supplementary learning instrument in surgical education. They were supportive of integrating TESLA into formal undergraduate education and using Telegram as an educational tool in other areas of medicine. In line with our findings, we outlined recommendations for the use of Telegram in medical education.