COVID-19: a catalyst for the digitization of surgical teaching at a German University Hospital

Background: The summer semester 2020, had to be restructured due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the associated contact restrictions. Here, for the frst time, the established lectures in lecture halls and small group seminars could not be conducted in presence as usual. A possible tool for the implementation of medical teaching, ofers the use of eLearning, online webinars and learning platforms. At present it is unclear how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will afect surgical teaching, how digitization will be accepted by students, and how virtual teaching can be expanded in the future. Methods: The teaching, which was previously delivered purely through face-to-face lectures, was completely converted to digital media. For this purpose, all lectures were recorded and were available to students on demand. The seminars were held as a twice a week occurring online webinar. The block internship was also conducted as a daily online webinar and concluded with an online exam at the end. At the end of the semester, a survey of the students was carried out, which was answered by n=192 students with an anonymized questionnaire. The questionnaire inquires about the previous and current experience with eLearning, as well as the possibility of a further development towards a purely digital university. Results: There were n=192 students in the study population. For 88%, the conversion of classes to web-based lectures represented their frst eLearning experience. For 77% of all students, the digitization of teaching led to a change in the way they prepare for class. 73% of the participating students are of the opinion that eLearning lectures should continue to be ofered. 54% of the students felt that eLearning lectures made more sense than face-to-face lectures. A purely virtual university could be imagined by 41% of the students. Conclusion: The conversion of teaching represented the frst contact with eLearning for most students. Overall, the eLearning ofering was experienced as positive. Due to the new teaching structure, the way of learning had already changed during the semester. Based on the new eLearning content, the already existing formats can be further expanded in the future. Nevertheless, it turned out that the practical-surgical contents and skills cannot be adequately represented by purely online ofers; for this, the development of hybrid practice-oriented teaching concepts is necessary

La zoomification de l’enseignement médical : les solutions virtuelles précipitées lors de la COVID-19 peuvent-elles nous préparer pour une prochaine perturbation dans l’enseignement? Revue exploratoire

Introduction: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, educators have increasingly shifted delivery of medical education to online/distance learning. Given the rapid and heterogeneous nature of adaptations; it is unclear what interventions have been developed, which strategies and technologies have been leveraged, or, more importantly, the rationales given for designs. Capturing the content and skills that were shifted to online, the type of platforms used for the adaptations, as well as the pedagogies, theories, or conceptual frameworks used to inform the adapted educational deliveries can bolster continued improvement and sustainability of distance/online education while preparing medical education for future large-scale disruptions. Methods: We conducted a scoping review to map the rapid medical educational interventions that have been adapted or transitioned to online between December 2019 and August 2020. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Education Source, CINAHL, and Web of Science for articles pertaining to COVID-19, online (distance) learning, and education for medical students, residents, and staff. We included primary research articles and reports describing adaptations of previous educational content to online learning. Results: From an initial 980 articles, we identified 208 studies for full-text screening and 100 articles for data extraction. The majority of the reported scholarship came from Western Countries and was published in clinical science journals. Cognitive content was the main type of content adapted (over psychomotor, or affective). More than half of the articles used a video-conferencing software as the platform to pivot their educational intervention into virtual. Unfortunately, most of the reported work did not disclose their rationale for choosing a platform. Of those that did, the majority chose technological solutions based on availability within their institutions. Similarly, most of the articles did not report the use of any pedagogy, theory, or framework to inform the educational adaptations.Introduction : En réponse à la pandémie de la COVID-19, l’enseignement médical a été progressivement déplacé vers l’espace virtuel. Compte tenu de la rapidité et de l’hétérogénéité des adaptations opérées, nous n’avons qu’une idée peu précise des activités éducatives élaborées, des stratégies et des technologies mobilisées et, plus important encore, des raisons avancées pour les motiver. Une meilleure connaissance du contenu et des compétences dont l’enseignement a été transféré en ligne, du type de plateformes utilisées pour le virage, ainsi que des pédagogies, des théories ou des cadres conceptuels utilisés pour guider les activités éducatives adaptées soutiendrait une amélioration continue et la pérennité de l’enseignement à distance, tout en préparant la formation médicale à de futures perturbations d’envergure. Méthodes : Nous avons effectué une revue exploratoire pour recenser les activités éducatives en médecine qui ont été expéditivement adaptées ou transposées en ligne entre décembre 2019 et août 2020. Nous avons interrogé les bases de données MEDLINE, EMBASE, Education Source, CINAHL et Web of Science à la recherche d’articles portant sur la COVID-19, sur l’apprentissage en ligne (à distance) et sur la formation des étudiants en médecine, des résidents et du personnel enseignant. Nous avons inclus des articles de recherche originale et d’autres décrivant l’adaptation de contenus éducatifs à l’apprentissage en ligne. Résultats : Des 980 articles trouvés, nous avons sélectionné 208 études pour un examen du texte intégral et 100 articles pour une extraction de données. La plupart des travaux provenaient de pays occidentaux et ont été publiés dans des revues médicales. Le type de contenu adapté était principalement cognitif, dans une moindre mesure psychomoteur ou affectif. Plus de la moitié des articles présentaient un logiciel de visioconférence comme plateforme utilisée pour transposer des activités éducatives en mode virtuel. Malheureusement, la plupart des études ne précisaient pas les raisons justifiant le choix de plateforme. Celles qui l’ont fait indiquaient majoritairement que les solutions technologiques avaient été choisies en fonction de leur disponibilité au sein de l’établissement. De la même manière, seulement une poignée d’articles font état de l’utilisation d’une pédagogie, d’une théorie ou d’un cadre pour guider les adaptations pédagogiques

Global Education in STEM and Healthcare: Implications of COVID-19

The Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic in March of 2020. Since then, most schools, colleges, and universities across the globe stopped delivering classes face-to-face and transitioned into virtual modalities of instruction. This reformation of academics has had an impact on every field of study, especially those students in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and in the realm of healthcare education. Ranging from middle/high school to undergraduate and graduate programs, STEM degrees require intensive curricula integrating extensive lectures on theoretical topics and laboratory exercises to apply those concepts in a practical setting. Likewise, healthcare education involves hands-on, clinical lab components working on patients, guided by supervisors. The guidelines developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States recommended refraining from these physical learning environments since social distancing has been an important preventative measure against the contagion. As in-person classes, labs, and residencies across the world were disrupted, students, faculty, staff, and administrators of STEM and healthcare fields had to face and navigate multifarious challenges to continue the education effectively, while maintaining safety. This review encapsulates such effects of the pandemic on STEM and healthcare education in various countries. The analysis aims to provide an insight into the strategies of distance education and alternative pedagogies for these disciplines adopted by institutions globally in the light of COVID-19, which could potentially serve as a reference model during any future pandemics

Teaching and Assessing College STEM Courses Online During COVID-19: Evidence-based Strategies and Recommendations

Since the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, most schools, colleges, and universities worldwide underwent a paradigm shift by transitioning to digital teaching and learning modalities. This phenomenon was essential to mitigate the contagion; however, the academic institutions needed to quickly come up with ways to ensure that the quality and rigor of education were maintained, especially the active and experiential learning required by undergraduate and graduate courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This paper highlights key approaches reported or proposed to effectively conduct college-level, in-person STEM courses online owing to the pandemic. These would range from synchronous versus asynchronous pedagogies to methods of teaching and assessing traditional face-to-face courses remotely, along with the application of cutting-edge technologies to uphold academic integrity. In addition, the analysis would help identify and bridge gaps among college students, faculty, and administrators in integrating instructional and evaluation tools for distance STEM education

COVID-19 AND MEDICAL EDUCATION IN GHANA: ASSESSING THE IMPACT

Medical education in Ghana has been affected in many ways by the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the pandemic has affected both preclinical and clinical segments of medical education, the effect has been felt more at the clinical stage. Medical students on vacation who started their clinical training abroad could not return to their destination of study to complete their programmes because of COVID-19 linked travel restrictions. This qualitative study examined how COVID-19 impacted on teaching and learning at a public higher education institution offering clinical medical education in Ghana for over 200 medical students. These medical students were from three different higher education institutions with varied curriculum outcomes. Thus, for them to be considered as a single group required innovativeness on the part of administrators. Open-ended interviews were held with administrators and the outcome indicated that salient aspects of the clinical training process had been impacted. These included administration of clinical education, curriculum, student learning, student assessment and code of practice. As a result of the pandemic, student learning shifted from traditional face to face interaction to online learning at the beginning. Some of the administrative challenges that ensued included the need for reduced number of students per tutor and introduction of afternoon sessions with a limited budget. The paper concludes that COVID-19 has been disruptive to traditional medical education in Ghana. However, the novel learning processes may provide opportunities to increase access to medical education using a phased system of learning. The findings from this study should have implications for policy and contribute to the discourse on blended learning in medical education in Ghana while ensuring that quality is maintained in all instances.  Article visualizations

COVID-19-related challenges in dental education: experiences from Australia, Brazil, and the USA

Aim: To describe the management of dental education in three dental schools during the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: Adopted strategies in the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), Brazil, University of Pittsburgh (UP), USA, and Griffith University (GU), Australia were detailed. Results: In the UFPB, all on-site teaching was suspended, and resources for distance learning set up as a supplementary semester to be available as face to face classes later. A protocol for clinical care followed safety measures recommended by Brazilian official health institutions. The adequacy of the physical structure, human resources, and personal protective equipment (PPE) acquisition for the return to clinical activities are currently under discussion. In the UP, learning activities were shifted to virtual teaching using lecture recordings and live sections. All elective patients care was postponed. Urgent dental cases were discussed via teledentistry. The physical layout of the dental clinics and pre-clinical laboratories were changed, allowing a safe distance between students. In the GU, all clinical and pre-clinical activities were cancelled, and theoretical activities were maintained online for all students. Several clinically based scenarios where created and delivered in the format of online problem-based learning. The reception area was redesigned, ensuring social distancing. Safety measures follow the Australia Dental Association. Conclusions: Dealing with dental education depends on the stage of the epidemic and the characteristics of each country

In vivo Simulation-Based Learning for Undergraduate Medical Students: Teaching and Assessment.

An increasing emphasis on simulation has become evident in the last three decades following fundamental shifts in the medical profession. Simulation-based learning (SBL) is a wide term that encompasses several means for imitating a skill, attitude, or procedure to train personnel in a safe and adaptive environment. A classic example has been the use of live animal tissue, named in vivo SBL. We aimed to review all published evidence on in vivo SBL for undergraduate medical students; this includes both teaching concepts as well as focused assessment of students on those concepts. We performed a systematic review of published evidence on MEDLINE. We also incorporated evidence from a series of systematic reviews (eviCORE) focused on undergraduate education which have been outputs from our dedicated research network (eMERG). In vivo SBL has been shown to be valuable at undergraduate level and should be considered as a potential educational tool. Strict adherence to 3R (Reduce, Refine, Replace) principles in order to reduce animal tissue usage, should always be the basis of any curriculum. In vivo SBL could potentially grant an extra mile towards medical students' inspiration and aspiration to become safe surgeons; however, it should be optimised and supported by a well-designed curriculum which enhances learning via multi-level fidelity SBL

Application of blended integrated revision course in clinical surgery in West Africa in response to Covid-19 pandemic: perception of trainee surgeons

Background/Objective: This study assessed the surgery residents’ evaluation of blended delivery of the 2020 Integrated Revision Course in Clinical Surgery (IRCCS) of the West African College of Surgeons undertaken as a result of COVID-19pandemic. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey of 234 participants of the 2020 IRCCS using self-administered questionnaire. The survey assessed the previous traditional course and various aspects of the novel blended course using 5-point Likert scale. Results: Overall, 186 (79.5%) responded. The blended course had overall mean rating of 4.92 (on a 5-point scale) compared to 4.05 for the previous traditional course. Of the virtual aspect of the blended course, didactic lectures had the best mean rating of 4.32, while unmanned OSCE had the least with mean rating of 3.30. Aspects of the multicentre component of the blended course were rated highly with conduct of manned OSCE receiving the best mean rating of 4.26. The major challenge of the blended course format was poor internet connectivity (n =102; 54.8%), Conclusion: Blended format of surgical training course is well rated by the surgery residents, and may be an effective means of delivery of clinical and non-clinical course contents during periods of disruption. Keywords: Surgical training; COVID-19 pandemic; virtual training; blended format; West Africa

Workshop 21. Faculty Development - Equipping clinical tutors with the skills to assist students to develop their clinical reasoning in patient consultations

Workshop ObjectivesTo consider the particular challenges for clinical tutors (experts) in helping medical students (novices) develop their clinical reasoning skills.To develop awareness of innovative approaches to faculty development to help tutors develop their skills in facilitating students development of their clinical reasoning skills in patient encounters.To encourage delegates to share best practice and reflect on faculty development in their own institutions