Students' and lecturers' perspectives on the implementation of online learning in medical education due to COVID-19 in Germany: a cross-sectional pilot study.

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, many things changed in universities around the world. In-person learning was not possible. Instead, courses were offered in digital form. The sudden change posed enormous challenges to universities, students, and teachers. The aim of this study was to investigate the disadvantages as well as the advantages and opportunities of digital learning. Objective: This study investigated the evaluation of an elective module by medical students and teachers in the traditional in-person and virtual teaching forms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Using the elective module "Sports Medicine," which includes both lectures and practical units, the opinions of the medical students about conventional teaching compared to digital instruction were evaluated. In the winter semester of 2019/2020, all classes were taught face-to-face but had to be switched to virtual teaching in the summer semester of 2020 on an ad hoc basis due to the pandemic. The students were asked to answer questions on general conditions, participant behavior, instructor evaluation, skill acquisition, topic selection, and overall evaluation after both forms of teaching. Likewise, the lecturers of both courses were queried in semiqualitative interviews about the same topics. Descriptive data analysis was performed to process the data. Results: The students perceived digital teaching to be superior in most subareas compared to in-person teaching in terms of framework, instructor evaluation, skill acquisition, topic selection, and overall rating. Medical students seemed to feel better with digital teaching in most areas of evaluation. The lecturers found the new form of teaching rather unsettling and criticized the lack of verbal and especially nonverbal communication as well as the short preparation time for the new challenge. The instructors were uncomfortable with some aspects of the virtual teaching format. Conclusion: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical schools should rapidly digitize their teaching offerings and support faculty members in their computer-based competence with continuing education opportunities and time resources.

E-health – The importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of SARs-CoV2: A national cross-sectional survey

Introduction The internet plays an important role as a digital source of information. The aim of this work is to investigate patients with disorder of the female sex organ (malignant and benign) to examine their information behavior about their diseases. The role and importance of the internet as an informative health application for these patients in this context will be highlighted. Materials and methods This prospective cross-sectional study was based on a survey of patients in Germany during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic among gynecological patients from July 2020 to November 2021. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and simple linear regression analysis was performed to show correlations. Results We analyzed the responses from 1271 gynecological patients. 91.4% (n = 1162) had an internet-enabled device. Of these, over 55% (n = 644) go online with a smartphone. Only eight percent (n = 101) stated to never feel able to use internet-enabled devices. In addition, almost 47% (n = 596) say that their attitude towards internet-enabled devices changed due the COVID-19 pandemic in a positive way. 82% (n = 1042) of patients can use digital health applications. In addition, more than 82% (n = 1046) believe that the use of digital health applications can have a positive impact on their disease treatment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the attitude towards digital health applications changed positively in 41.4% (n = 526). More than 73% of patients (n = 933) reported using DHAs more frequently. 76% of patients (n = 966) use the internet as a source of information about their gynecological health problem. Over 90% of them (n = 874) regularly use the internet for this purpose. Over 73% of patients (n = 928) state that the internet has become an important source of health information for them since the COVID-19 pandemic. For gynecological problems, two thirds of them (621/928) use the internet as a source of health information before consulting a physician. Conclusion The internet as an informative digital health application in gynecology is used extensively and is widely accepted by patients. Mistrust of gynecological health information from the internet has diminished because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Confidence in informative digital health applications from the patient's point of view has increased. The internet was seen as a helpful health information platform in addition to medical consultation. More specialized research in the field of e-health in gynecology is needed. This includes large-scale randomized controlled trials, economic analysis, and explorations of user preferences to increase the confidence and usefulness of informative digital health applications in the future. The most reported benefit of the internet as a digital informative health application was time-independent use. The main obstacles were a lack of trust and evidence of the lack of health information from the internet.

[Recommendations for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 during Pregnancy, Birth and Childbed - Update November 2021 (Short Version)]. / Empfehlungen zu SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 in Schwangerschaft, Geburt und Wochenbett ­ Update November 2021 (Kurzfassung).

Since the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the German Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics and the Society for Peri-/Neonatal Medicine have published and repeatedly updated recommendations for the management of SARS-CoV-2 positive pregnancies and neonates. As a continuation of existing recommendations, the current update addresses key issues related to the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal care of pregnant women, women who have recently given birth, women who are breastfeeding with SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, and their unborn or newborn infants, based on publications through September 2021. Recommendations and opinions were carefully derived from currently available scientific data and subsequently adopted by expert consensus. This guideline - here available in the short version - is intended to be an aid to clinical decision making. Interpretation and therapeutic responsibility remain with the supervising local medical team, whose decisions should be supported by these recommendations. Adjustments may be necessary due to the rapid dynamics of new evidence. The recommendations are supported by the endorsement of the professional societies: German Society for Perinatal Medicine (DGPM), German Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (DGGG), German Society for Prenatal and Obstetric Medicine (DGPGM), German Society for Pediatric Infectiology (DGPI), Society for Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine (GNPI).

[Recommendations for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 during Pregnancy, Birth and Childbed - Update November 2021 (Long Version)]. / Empfehlungen zu SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 in Schwangerschaft, Geburt und Wochenbett ­ Update November 2021 (Langfassung).

Since the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the German Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics and the Society for Peri-/Neonatal Medicine have published and repeatedly updated recommendations for the management of SARS-CoV-2 positive pregnancies and neonates. As a continuation of existing recommendations, the current update addresses key issues related to the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal care of pregnant women, women who have given birth, women who have recently given birth, women who are breastfeeding with SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, and their unborn or newborn infants, based on publications through September 2021. Recommendations and opinions were carefully derived from currently available scientific data and subsequently adopted by expert consensus. This guideline - here available in the long version - is intended to be an aid to clinical decision making. Interpretation and therapeutic responsibility remain with the supervising local medical team, whose decisions should be supported by these recommendations. Adjustments may be necessary due to the rapid dynamics of new evidence. The recommendations are supported by the endorsement of the professional societies: German Society for Perinatal Medicine (DGPM), German Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (DGGG), German Society for Prenatal and Obstetric Medicine (DGPGM), German Society for Pediatric Infectiology (DGPI), Society for Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine (GNPI).

Adverse effects on female fertility from vaccination against COVID-19 unlikely.

This opinion paper briefly presents arguments that support the unlikelihood of an impact on female fertility from current covid-19 vaccines.

[Period Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in an Unselected Sample of Pregnant Women in Jena, Thuringia]. / Periodenprävalenz von SARS-CoV-2 in einer unselektierten Stichprobe schwangerer Frauen in Jena, Thüringen.

INTRODUCTION: Following an exponential increase in SARS-CoV-2 infections, the city of Jena, Thuringia, was the first in Germany to introduce mandatory mouth and nose coverings. An estimation of the SARS-CoV-2 period prevalence was achieved by screening an unselected cohort of pregnant women. Of interest was the number of unreported cases. METHODS: Upon admission to hospital, patients were screened for SARS-CoV-2 by a specific real-time PCR and antibodies determined by a specific SARS-CoV-2 IgG in serum by ELISA. The SARS-CoV-2 period prevalence was estimated using the Clopper-Pearson exact method, the group comparison with Fischer's exact test. RESULTS: From 6 April to 13 May 2020, 234 pregnant women were admitted to the Department of Obstetrics. A total of 225 (96.2%) SARS-CoV-2 PCRs were carried out and all remained negative. Specific IgG antibodies were detected in one (0.6%) of 180 (76.9%) antibody tests performed. The interval estimate of the period prevalence thus results in a 95% confidence interval between 0-1.7%. For 96 households with children, the period prevalence is 0-3.8%, which does not differ from the 0-4.8% for 76 households without children (p=1.00). DISCUSSION: This is the first report on the SARS-CoV-2 period prevalence of an unselected sample of pregnant women in Germany. Antibody testing showed no evidence of the feared high number of unreported asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. The seroconversion rate was below 1% (0.6%).

[Update on Recommendations for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 During Pregnancy, Birth and Childbed]. / Aktualisierte Empfehlungen zu SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 und Schwangerschaft, Geburt und Wochenbett.

With begin of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic the german obstetric, peri-/neonatological and pediatric professional societies published recommendations for care of pregnant and newborn, as well as for necessary staff protection in March 2020 [1-3]. Because of the rapid emerging increase of knowledge an update is required. This work therefore perceives as prosecution of the existing recommendations [1-3].Worldwide national recommendations were recently compared and published in a consensual review [4]. In methodological dependence this update of recommendations comments on key questions of pre-, peri- and postnatal care at SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, based on publications up to 30.05.2020. Statements represent a carefully concerned expert consensus and can change contemporary as new knowledge appears.The responsibility for concrete management remains at the local medical team, decisions should be supported by these recommendations.