Background/Purpose: theMednet.org is an online educational forum in which physicians submit clinical questions that are answered by experts in the field. RheumMadness is an online tournament of rheumatology concepts that engages learners through a community of inquiry framework. We sought to measure the educational impact of collaborative use of these learning platforms using data from participants redeeming continuing medical education (CME)

Methods: The 2024 RheumMadness tournament consisted of 16 teams of competing concepts that were presented as scouting reports written by trainees and rheumatologists. 14 clinically focused questions specific to RheumMadness content were published on theMednet along with answers from experts and relevant polling questions. Leadership teams from RheumMadness and theMednet publicized updates about each other’s initiatives on their respective online platforms. At the conclusion of the tournament, CME and maintenance of certification (MOC) data for questions related to RheumMadness were analyzed.

Results: During the tournament period there were 292 CME credit claims for 101 unique practicing rheumatologists. Of those claims, in regard to impact on clinical practice, 41% of respondents stated they gained a deeper understanding of a topic, 35% learned something new, 12% stated there was no impact, 8% stated they understand how to apply what they know to clinical practice and 4% responded “other” (Figure 1). Impact data for individual questions was also evaluated (Figure 2). The question with the greatest impact on learning something new was “Do you generally recommend starting nintedanib prior to immunosuppressive therapy in a patient with CTD-ILD”. The question with the greatest impact on application to clinical practice was “How do you counsel patients on the benefit of diet and exercise in OA that motivates them in a way to comply?”. In regard to application of knowledge in clinical practice, the majority of respondents (73%) reported questions confirmed their practice, 14% reported it changed their practice, 6% reported they needed more information, 5% reported “other” and 2% reported their practice differs and they disagreed with the question responses (Figure 1). The question with the highest reported change in clinical practice was “How do you counsel patients who ask if there are any dietary modifications they can make to help control their autoimmune disease?” with 38% of rheumatologists reporting this changed their practice (Figure 3).  Overall, there was a range of 1 to 36 respondents who claimed CME credit per question. There were 196 unique maintenance of certification (MOC) responses. Themes included improved understanding of diagnosis, treatment and management of rheumatologic diseases.

Conclusion: The question and answer format of theMednet is an effective way to educate practicing rheumatologists on important clinical concepts in their field.  Collaboration between theMednet and RheumMadness tournament led to a measurable impact on learners’ understanding of topics, knowledge of new topics and application of concepts to clinical practice.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/measuring-the-educational-impact-of-a-collaboration-between-rheummadness-and-themednet/