Development and Utilization of a Medical Student Surgery Podcast During COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic drastically reduced learning opportunities for medical students. We sought to determine the cost and success of implementation of a podcast for a surgical department in a large academic hospital. METHODS: We created a podcast series for Israeli medical students during the COVID-19 epidemic based on the Medical Student Core Curriculum of the American College of Surgeons / Association for Surgical Education. Episodes were available for free download or streaming on a designated website and popular podcast platforms. Podcast analytics were used to measure public listeners and uptake. RESULTS: Total development time was 90 hours at an estimated cost of $7091 USD. A total of 10 episodes were released between March 21, 2020 and August 31, 2020. An average of 9 ± 1.26 h (range 2-6) was required to generate each episode, including 3.4 ± 1.26 h (2-6) for content review and 5.6 ± 2 h (4-10) for audio production. An average episode ran for 35.9 ± 4.3 min (28-42). Podcasts recorded a total of 5678 downloads, with an average of 228 and 336 downloads per episode in the first 30 and 90 days, respectively. The average daily downloads before the students returned to clinical rotations (March 21-April 30) was 48 ± 58.3 (7-283;) compared to 16 ± 7.4 after their return (1-38; P< 0.01). Estimated costs to produce a video-based education series would have been significantly more. CONCLUSION: Podcasts can serve as a cost-effective and quickly produced instructional tool to supplement online learning. Further research is required to determine the efficacy of podcasts versus video-based education modules.

The Effect of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Trauma-Related Visits to a Tertiary Hospital Emergency Department.

BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic changed medical environments worldwide. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trauma-related visits to the emergency department (ED). METHODS: A single tertiary center retrospective study was conducted that compared ED attendance of patients with injury-related morbidity between March 2020 (COVID-19 outbreak) and pre-COVID-19 periods: February 2020 and the same 2 months in 2018 and 2019. RESULTS: Overall, 6513 patients were included in the study. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the daily number of patients visiting the ED for acute trauma declined by 40% compared to the average in previous months (P < 0.01). A strong negative correlation was found between the number of trauma-related ED visits and the log number of confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Israel (Pearson's r = -0.63, P < 0.01). In the COVID-19 period there was a significant change in the proportion of elderly patients (7% increase, P = 0.002), admissions ratio (12% increase, P < 0.001), and patients brought by emergency medical services (10% increase, P < 0.001). The number of motor vehicle accident related injury declined by 45% (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: A significant reduction in the number of trauma patients presenting to the ED occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet trauma-related admissions were on the rise.