Online medical education using a Facebook peer-to-peer learning platform during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study exploring learner and tutor acceptability of Facebook as a learning platform

Background In recent years, higher education institutions have been moving teaching online, accelerated by the pandemic. The Remote Learning Project (RLP), based at the Norwich Medical School (NMS) in the United Kingdom (U.K.), was a peer-to-peer teaching program developed to supplement medical school teaching during the pandemic. The teaching was delivered through Facebook using peer-to-peer teaching. Tutors were final year medical students, teaching medical student learners in lower years. Tutors and learners perception of peer-to-peer online learning delivered through the Facebook Social Media (SoMe) platform was investigated. Methods This qualitative study recruited tutor and learner participants from NMS by email, participation in the study was voluntary. Online semi-structured interviews of both tutors and learners in the remote learning project were conducted. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results Seven participants were interviewed. Five themes were identified; education (learning/teaching), productivity, data security, professionalism, and usability of the platform. Learners enjoyed the asynchronous nature of the platform and both learners and tutors enjoyed the peer-to-peer nature of the RLP, including the ability to immediately and easily answer on Facebook comments. Some learners felt distracted on Facebook, whilst others enjoyed the reminders. The mix of social and professional on the platform was met with caution from tutors. Both learners and tutors enjoyed the familiarity of the platform. Conclusions The study found that SoMe may be a credible platform to deliver online peer-to-peer teaching. Educators should consider the ergonomics of SoMe platforms when designing online curriculums. Guidelines for educators should be developed to better guide educators on the effective and safe use of SoMe as a learning tool

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic social restriction measures on people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases in the UK: a mixed-methods study

OBJECTIVES: To determine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic social restriction measures on people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) and to explore how people adapted to these measures over time. DESIGN: Mixed-methods investigation comprising a national online longitudinal survey and embedded qualitative study. SETTING: UK online survey and interviews with community-dwelling individuals in the East of England. PARTICIPANTS: People in the UK with RMDs, were invited to participate in an online survey. A subsection of respondents were invited to participate in the embedded qualitative study. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The online survey, completed fortnightly over 10 weeks from April 2020 to August 2020, investigated changes in symptoms, social isolation and loneliness, resilience and optimism. Qualitative interviews were undertaken assessing participant’s perspectives on changes in symptoms, exercising, managing instrumental tasks such a shopping, medication and treatment regimens, and how they experienced changes in their social networks. RESULTS: 703 people with RMDs completed the online survey. These people frequently reported a deterioration in symptoms as a result of COVID-19 pandemic social restrictions (52% reported increase vs. 6% reported a decrease). This was significantly worse for those aged 18 to 60 years compared to older participants (p=0.017). The qualitative findings from 30 individuals with RMDs suggest that the greatest change in daily life was experienced by those in employment. Although some retired people reported reduced opportunity for exercise outside their homes, they did not face the many competing demands experienced by employed people and people with children at home. CONCLUSIONS: People with RMDs reported a deterioration in symptoms when COVID-19 pandemic social restriction measures were enforced. This was worse for working-aged people. Consideration of this at-risk group, specifically for the promotion of physical activity, changing home-working practices and awareness of healthcare provision is important, as social restrictions continue in the UK

Does a PBL-based medical curriculum predispose training in specific career paths? A systematic review of the literature

Background North American medical schools have used problem-based learning (PBL) structured medical education for more than 60 years. However, it has only recently been introduced in other medical schools outside of North America. Since its inception, there has been the debate on whether the PBL learning process predisposes students to select certain career paths. Objectives To review available evidence to determine the predisposition of specific career paths when undertaking a PBL-based medical curriculum. The career path trajectory was determined as measured by official Matching Programs, self-reported questionnaires and surveys, and formally defined career development milestones. Methods A systematic literature review was performed. PubMed, Medline, Cochrane and ERIC databases were analysed in addition to reference lists for appropriate inclusion. Results Eleven studies fitting the inclusion criteria were identified. The majority of studies showed that PBL did not predispose a student to a career in a specific speciality (n = 7 out of 11 studies, 64%). However, three studies reported a significantly increased number of PBL graduates working in primary care compared to those from a non-PBL curriculum. Conclusions PBL has been shown not to predispose medical students to a career in General Practice or any other speciality. Furthermore, a greater number of similar studies are required before a definitive conclusion can be made in the future

The Sim360 Trial – Innovating simulation training with the use of a ‘flipped’ 360-degree virtual reality video

Simulation is a widely-employed teaching method in undergraduate medical education, providing a safe and supportive experiential learning experience. However, for inexperienced students, it can often be a stressful and daunting prospect with technical aspects of the SimMan® impeding learning. Production of a low-cost virtual reality (VR) resource has the potential to provide an appealing, immersive learning experience for the millennial learner, increasing preparedness and enhancing the learning potential of formal sessions. In this Pecha Kucha, we will showcase our journey into VR, starting from nothing and leading to the creation of a 360-degree 3D video. Our immersive video was based on content covered in the first simulation teaching session attended by first-year medical students at our institution. Twenty-nine first-year students were independently randomised to one of three groups: (1) viewing the video on their smartphone using a VR headset (n=9); (2) viewing the video on a desktop computer screen (n=10); or (3) not viewing the video at all i.e. the control group (n=10). We assessed student performance in an OSCE-style simulation station and evaluated subjective experience using a survey, including the use of a validated assessment of students’ motivation. All participants completed the survey following the intervention. Provisional results show that students who watched the virtual reality video felt significantly more prepared for their simulation teaching session compared to controls (p=0.03). Participants viewing the video using a VR headset reported higher median ratings of immersion and engagement compared to those viewing on a desktop monitor. We filmed this VR video with no prior film production or editing experience and limited funding. This presentation intends to showcase how any educator, regardless of technological know-how can produce immersive, low-cost, accessible resources for technology-enhanced learning

Ready Patient One: the role of therapeutic virtual reality in the future management of chronic pain

Virtual reality (VR) is commonly perceived as ‘futuristic’, a view that perhaps stems from Hollywood movies from over 20 years ago such as ‘Tron’ and ‘The Matrix’ featuring interactive, computer-generated virtual environments. Yet, in 2021, science fiction has become reality with affordable, technologically advanced VR head-mounted displays (HMDs) with motion tracking. There is increasing focus on the utility of VR for therapeutics, with pain management emerging as a key area in which VR shows great potential

Time Series Classification of Electroencephalography Data

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive technique used to record the electrical activity of the brain using electrodes placed on the scalp. EEG data is commonly used for classification problems. However, many of the current classification techniques are dataset specific and cannot be applied to EEG data problems as a whole. We propose the use of multivariate time series classification (MTSC) algorithms as an alternative. Our experiments show comparable accuracy to results from standard approaches on EEG datasets on the UCR time series classification archive without needing to perform any dataset-specific feature selection. We also demonstrate MTSC on a new problem, classifying those with the medical condition Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) against those without. We utilise a short-time Fast-Fourier transform method to extract each individual EEG frequency band, finding that the theta and alpha bands may contain discriminatory data between those with FMS compared to those without

Open Peer Review Discuss this article (0) Comments Colonoscopic polyp detection rate is stable throughout the workday including evening colonoscopy sessions [version 1; referees: 2 approved] Referee Status: Invited Referees version 1

Abstract Polyp detection rate (PDR) is an accepted measure of colonoscopy Objective: quality. Several factors may influence PDR including time of procedure and order of colonoscopy within a session. Our unit provides evening colonoscopy lists (6-9 pm). We examined whether colonoscopy performance declines in the evening. Data for all National Health Service (NHS) outpatient colonoscopies Design: performed at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in 2011 were examined. Timing, demographics, indication and colonoscopy findings were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using multivariate regression. Data from 2576 colonoscopies were included: 1163 (45.1%) in the Results: morning, 1123 (43.6%) in the afternoon and 290 (11.3%) in the evening. Overall PDR was 40.80%. Males, increasing age and successful caecal intubation were all significantly associated with higher polyp detection. The indications 'faecal occult blood screening' (p<0.001) and 'polyp surveillance' (p<0.001) were strongly positively associated and 'anaemia' (p=0.01) was negatively associated with PDR. Following adjustment for covariates, there was no significant difference in PDR between sessions. With the morning as the reference value, the odds ratio for polyp detection in the afternoon and evening were 0.93 (95% CI = 0.72-1.18) and 1.15 (95%CI = 0.82-1.61) respectively. PDR was not affected by rank of colonoscopy within a list, sedation dose or trainee-involvement. Tim