Limitaciones de los estudiantes en el curso de cirugía de pregrado durante la pandemia de COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: To know the limitations that the students encountered during the undergraduate surgery course during COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: Through an online questionnaire, students were asked about the evaluation of the undergraduate surgery course, the limitations encountered during the course, both those perceived by themselves, and the limitations they perceived in teachers. Questions were asked about the total evaluation of the surgery course and the clinical part of the course. RESULTS: 63 students of the subject of surgery were included. The most mentioned limitations of the students were the availability of schedule and teaching material. The most mentioned limitation in relation to the teachers was the lack of technical knowledge. A relationship was found between the evaluation of the course and the interaction between the teacher and the student. CONCLUSIONS: The medical education have undergone great changes, especially the clinical part. There are several limitations in this process that can be improved by teachers and students and the perception of the quality of the course is related to the degree of interaction that teachers had with the students.

OBJETIVO: Conocer las limitaciones que los estudiantes encontraron durante el curso de pregrado de cirugía durante la pandemia de COVID-19. MÉTODO: Mediante un cuestionario en línea, se interrogó a los estudiantes acerca de la evaluación del curso de cirugía de pregrado y las limitaciones encontradas durante el curso, tanto las percibidas por ellos mismos como las que percibieron en sus maestros. Se preguntó acerca de la evaluación total del curso de cirugía y de la parte clínica del curso. RESULTADOS: Se incluyeron 63 estudiantes de la materia de cirugía. Las limitaciones de los estudiantes más mencionadas fueron la disponibilidad de horario y de material didáctico. La limitación más mencionada en relación a los maestros fue la falta de conocimientos técnicos. Se encontró relación entre la evaluación del curso y la interacción que se tuvo entre el maestro y el estudiante. CONCLUSIONES: La educación en medicina ha sufrido grandes cambios, sobre todo la parte clínica. Existen diversas limitaciones en este proceso que pueden mejorarse por parte de maestros y estudiantes, y la percepción de la calidad del curso está relacionada con el grado de interacción que los maestros tuvieron con los estudiantes.

A scoping review: virtual patients for communication skills in medical undergraduates.

BACKGROUND: Communication is an essential competence for medical students. Virtual patients (VP), computerized educational tools where users take the role of doctor, are increasingly used. Despite the wide range of VP utilization, evidence-based practical guidance on supporting development of communication skills for medical students remains unclear. We focused this scoping review on VP affordance for student learning especially important in the current environment of constrained patient access. METHODS: This scoping review followed Arksey & O'Malley's methodology. We tested and used a search strategy involving six databases, resulting in 5,262 citations. Two reviewers independently screened titles, full texts (n= 158) and finally performed data extraction on fifty-five included articles. To support consideration of educational affordance the authors employed a pragmatic framework (derived from activity theory) to map included studies on VP structure, curricular alignment, mediation of VP activity, and socio-cultural context. RESULTS: Findings suggest that not only the VP itself, but also its contextualization and associated curricular activities influence outcomes. The VP was trialled in the highest proportion of papers as a one-off intervention (19 studies), for an average duration of 44.9 minutes (range 10-120min), mainly in senior medical students (n=23), notably the largest group of studies did not have VP activities with explicit curricular integration (47%). There was relatively little repeated practice, low levels of feedback, self-reflection, and assessment. Students viewed VPs overall, citing authenticity and ease of use as important features. Resource implications are often omitted, and costings would facilitate a more complete understanding of implications of VP use. CONCLUSION: Students should be provided with maximal opportunity to draw out the VPs' full potential through repeated practice, without time-constraint and with curricular alignment. Feedback delivery enabling reflection and mastery is also key. The authors recommend educators to explicitly balance computerized authenticity with instructional design integrated within the curriculum.

A Novel Online Dissection Course on Lower Limb Anatomy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: The teaching of human anatomy, a medical subject that relies heavily on live teaching, teacher-student interactivity, and visuospatial skills, has suffered tremendously since the COVID-19 pandemic mandated the shutting down of medical institutions. The medical education fraternity was compelled to replace the traditional teaching method of hands-on cadaveric dissections (HOCDs) with online education to overcome this new challenge, but it came at the cost of reduced student engagement and lesser spatial orientation. METHOD: In this cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study, we designed a novel online dissection course on lower limb anatomy and collected student feedback on the same from consenting Phase I Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students of Symbiosis Medical College for Women, Pune, India. The course design consisted of three different modes: a live Zoom session using a handheld camera phone, a pre-recorded video dissection uploaded on the institute learning management system, and a Powerpoint presentation with high-resolution photographs of each dissected layer; and the feedback intended to find out what works best for the students. Overall feedback regarding their preferences in terms of presentation design, use of background music in pre-recorded videos, and overall learning experience was also collected. The course consisted of six two-hour teaching sessions. The first three sessions each used a different mode of teaching, repeating the same pattern in the next three sessions. The first mode of teaching implemented was a live Zoom session where instructors used a hand-held cell phone camera to show specimens that had been dissected a day prior. The second mode involved a pre-recorded video showing step-by-step dissection performed by the instructor which was then uploaded on the Institute Learning Management System. Of the two pre-recorded videos, background music consisting of a low-volume instrumental track was added to the second video. The third mode utilized Powerpoint presentations containing high-resolution photographs of each dissected layer on a separate slide along with labeling. The presentations were shown to the students over a Zoom call. A Google Form (GF) questionnaire was created after validation by subject experts to gather the students' feedback on the teaching and learning of anatomy via these sessions. The GF responses were collected and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. RESULTS: 41.7% of students recommended the use of a combination of all three modes in the same session, while 36.7% favored pre-recorded videos. 86.7% of students said that a good quality presentation design helps in keeping them engaged and only 23% of students favored the use of background music for increasing their ability to concentrate. 63.3% of students found the learning experience highly satisfactory. CONCLUSION: Although virtual dissection teaching methods may not be able to completely replace HOCDs, a well-planned online dissection course incorporating multiple modes of online dissections with an emphasis on good quality presentation design and frequent teacher-student interactivity can provide a strong impetus for learning in the absence of live teaching methods.

Training of physical examination techniques in video conferences.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic also called for the teaching of practical skills to develop teaching formats outside of classroom teaching. Methods: Selected physical examination techniques (musculoskeletal system, neurological system) were taught via video conference using a modified Peyton method. The core element was the mutual, real demonstration of the respective skill by student tutor and student with immediate possible correction. Results: The IT requirements turned out to be sufficient, direct feedback from tutors and students was positive. Conclusion: Whether this method can be a substitute for classroom courses must be evaluated in more extensive studies.

Assessment of online teaching as an adjunct to medical education in the backdrop of COVID-19 lockdown in a developing country - An online survey.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess awareness about online classes and to assess if they can aid learning in the field of medicine amid lockdown. METHODS: Online survey comprising a questionnaire related to the aspects of online teaching was undertaken. There were 16 questions, and responses were collected from undergraduates, postgraduates, and the teaching faculties. RESULTS: Online classes were viewed favorably by the vast majority of respondents. Out of 412 respondents 79.9% actively attended the classes. While 42% felt the timings were inappropriate as they clashed with duty hours, a set of 35% had difficulty understanding the content and most of them were undergraduates. Poor internet connection was a main hindrance identified. In total, 69.2% respondents were happy with the feasibility of the classes and believed these classes had the advantage of being economical as they offered exposure to national and international faculty from the comfort of their homes. CONCLUSION: Conducting online classes on a national scale is a herculean task for a developing country because of poor internet connectivity and deficient access to high-speed broadband services. Nevertheless, their popularity among students during the current crisis shows that it is a very pragmatic and feasible teaching option and can definitely supplement traditional classroom teaching.