INTRODUCTION: Use of video cases in clinical education is rarely used systematically.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Medical students (n = 127) reported by questionnaire whether they had or had not seen a bedside case of each of 22 specific clinical conditions during their five-week clinical course in paediatrics in seven centres. A video case library showing children with common clinical conditions was established, and a short video was added to the oral examination. We evaluated students' and internal and external examiners' perceptions by questionnaires.

RESULTS: A total of 81% of the students reported having seen a child with asthma in the daily clinic. In contrast, respiratory syncytial virus infection was only seen by 20%. Students' self-reported confidence in the assessment of paediatric patients increased after the video case library was made available: Before the intervention, 41% (57/138) of the students reported confidence at a score of 5-7 on a seven-point Likert scale. This increased to 64% (186/289) (p < 0.0001) after the introduction of the video case library. Before, 84% (116/138) of the students judged the impact of video cases to be high (score 5-7 on a seven-point Likert scale) and after the intervention, this share was 75% (218/289) (p = 0.06). Furthermore, internal as well as external examiners found video cases valuable, but the use of videos did not change the average examination grade.

CONCLUSION: A video case supplement to teaching in clinical paediatrics was considered to be of value for teaching. We were successful in establishing an educational resource that students considered useful. Internal and external examiners found that a short video case was a valuable supplementary tool during the oral examination.

FUNDING: The University of Copenhagen funded the study.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: not relevant.