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Over the last 20 years, surgical training in the United Kingdom (UK) has changed dramatically. There have been considerable efforts towards creating a programme that delivers the highest standard of training while maintaining patient safety. However, the journey to improve the quality of training has faced several hurdles and challenges. Recruitment processes, junior doctor contracts, flexible working hours and equality and diversity have all been under the spotlight in recent times. These issues, alongside the extended surgical team and the increasingly recognised importance of trainee wellbeing, mean that postgraduate surgical training is extremely topical. Alongside this, as technology has evolved, this has been incorporated into all aspects of training, from recruitment to simulated training opportunities and postgraduate examinations. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought technology and simulation to the forefront in an attempt to compensate for reduced operative exposure and experience, and has transformed the way that we learn and work. In this article, we reflect on the UK surgical trainee experience and discuss areas of success as well as highlighting potential areas for improvement going forward.
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The COVID-19 pandemic brought enormous challenges for health, scientists and academic world two years ago. Social isolation and the inabilities of face-to-face activities generated the emergence of many educational and scientific initiatives. Remote activities gave information and brought company and affection to people which allowed students and professionals from different parts of the world to integrate. In this report we are showing the experience from three initiatives in South America of scientific dissemination in infectious diseases. We discuss the scope of having a permanent practice for access and integration in science using remote communication, which can give great benefits in unequal societies. © 2022 Brazilian Society of Parasitology. All rights reserved.
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In this article, we take our thoughts for a walk through our three different doctoral journeys and experiences with the Post Philosophies and the Doing of Inquiry Webinar Series (2020–2021). The webinars presented an example of Slow scholarship, enabling us to think deeply and differently from others and develop new ideas to take further. The online connections offered opportunities for extending learning spaces beyond traditional bounded structures. Here we explore the rich learning gained from each other's experiences of research, learning, and teaching in different higher education settings and ways in which these intersected with the webinars during the global COVID-19 pandemic. We contend that the generosity of senior academics in leadership positions who embraced global networks of communication, connected students with experts, and learned with and from their students through communal egalitarian spaces has enormous potential to support students as they traverse often demanding and challenging doctoral journeys. © The Author(s) 2022.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which librarians in Nigeria engaged in professional development workshops during the COVID-19 era. The study adopted a survey method using an online questionnaire. Factors such as saving money, the free nature of workshops, eliminating travel risk, in the comfort of the home, and providing an opportunity for all were mentioned as the benefits of participating in online workshops using Zoom. Buying data bundle, lack of computer/Android phone/smartphone, ignorance or lack of awareness of up-coming workshops, lack of time, power outage, nonchalant attitude towards technology, and network failures were identified as challenges of participation. The Zoom platform can be adopted for organizing workshops and meetings, and for teaching and learning in the post COVID-19 era. © The Author(s) 2021.
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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic posed several challenges for surgical training, including the suspension of many in-person teaching sessions in lieu of webinars. As restrictions have eased, both prepandemic and postpandemic training methods should be used. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates trainees' experiences of webinars during the COVID-19 pandemic to develop recommendations for their effective integration into surgical training going forward. METHODS: This project was led by the Association of Surgeons in Training and used an iterative process with mixed qualitative methods to consolidate arguments for and against webinars, and the drivers and barriers to their effective delivery, into recommendations. This involved 3 phases: (1) a web-based survey, (2) focus group interviews, and (3) a consensus session using a nominal group technique. RESULTS: Trainees (N=281) from across specialties and grades confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in webinars for surgical training. While there were concerns, particularly around the utility for practical training (80.9%), the majority agreed that webinars had a role in training following the COVID-19 pandemic (90.2%). The cited benefits included improved access or flexibility and potential standardization of training. The majority of limitations were technical. These perspectives were refined through focus group interviews (n=18) into 25 recommendations, 23 of which were ratified at a consensus meeting, which was held at the Association of Surgeons in Training 2021 conference. CONCLUSIONS: Webinars have a role in surgical training following the COVID-19 pandemic. The 23 recommendations encompass indications and technical considerations but also discuss important knowledge gaps. They should serve as an initial framework for ensuring that webinars add value and continue to evolve as a tool for training. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2200055325; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojen.aspx?proj=142802.
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The COVID-19 pandemic prevented doctors from attending surgical meetings or conferences where they learned surgical skills from others and shared surgical experiences. It also resulted in the rapid use of webinars in obstetrics and gynecology meetings. While webinars or virtual meetings enable distance learning and replace face-to-face meetings using various teleconferencing software programs, many attendees are not satisfied and find it difficult to learn surgical techniques using commercially available telecommunication programs. Therefore, dedicated webinars are necessary to present emerging surgical technologies, satisfy the attendees, and achieve a successful outcome. This article reviews the existing telecommunication programs, new presentation technologies, and proposed webinars developments to improve its delivery of surgical techniques and training during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the future.
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Anatomical education has a long and colourful history, ranging from the anatomical theatre and artistic flourish of the renaissance period to modern-day virtual reality. Over the centuries, the body has been taken apart and mapped in exquisite detail. We are now able to access virtual models of the body anywhere, anytime, which allow for unlimited dissection and manipulation. Despite this progress, the majority of anatomical educators continue to deliver anatomy in a laboratory setting, using hands-on learning approaches such as dissection of cadaveric material. These methods are robustly supported by educational theories, such as information processing theory and experiential learning but require students to be present in a dissection room with access to human cadaveric material.The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced anatomy educators out of familiar dissection laboratories and into unfamiliar and uncomfortable virtual environments. When moving online during the pandemic, active learning theories, which form the basis of face-to-face classes, were used to construct interactive anatomy webinars to replace the on-campus practical laboratory-based teaching. The focus of these webinars was on student interactivity, and visual content with drawing activities, breakout groups, virtual three-dimensional models, and identifying activities being integrated into each session. Student feedback showed an appreciation of the interactive nature of these sessions, and staff were surprised at how well the webinars delivered engaging and interactive teaching at a time of limited social contact. This approach was not only useful during the restrictions of a pandemic but could offer a complementary approach to delivering practical anatomy teaching as we return to blended and on-campus learning again.
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COVID-19 , Pandemics , Humans , COVID-19/epidemiology , Dissection/education , Problem-Based Learning , CadaverABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: During the COVID-19 pandemic, regular teaching for core surgical trainees (CSTs) in Northern Ireland was cancelled at short notice, leaving a significant gap in training. We aimed to develop an effective core surgical teaching programme, within the remit of government regulations, to ensure training was not negatively affected by COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A novel virtual teaching programme was designed and implemented regionally across Northern Ireland. One-year free Affiliate Membership to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) was provided for Northern Ireland CSTs, allowing access to RCSEd online webinars. A weekly teaching schedule based on the Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) exam curriculum and accompanied by a webinar was created and disseminated to trainees. Senior surgeons were recruited to conduct a virtual teaching session via videoconferencing. RESULTS: Ten teaching sessions were conducted over three months. Feedback was collated, with positive results and requests for virtual teaching to continue. As such, the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA) adopted the teaching programme as their new primary method of central teaching for Northern Ireland CSTs during the pandemic. CONCLUSION: A novel, highly successful teaching programme was developed in Northern Ireland to meet the training needs of CSTs resulting in a sustained change to training. Virtual surgical teaching can be as effective as face-to-face didactic learning and may be imperative in a foreseeably socially distanced world.
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COVID-19 , Surgeons , Humans , Pandemics , COVID-19/epidemiology , Curriculum , Surgeons/education , VideoconferencingABSTRACT
Peerconnect is a great solution for virtual event management. Peerconnect is an all-in-one event management platform for promoting and conducting online events on the same platform. The point of virtual event management software is to allow users to create hosts and manage the events at ease without having to depend on many software to accomplish different tasks. So, the event management software Peerconnect has established the pipeline for people who want to promote, manage and conduct virtual events. Organizers can create the events on the platform and can promote and sell the tickets to other users on the same platform. Organizers can host live chat rooms and live discussions with video calling capabilities as well. Peerconnect is a web application using which the user can get to know about the events which are conducted virtually. Once the user selects the event, then he has to register for it. Once the registration is successful, user can attend the event on the same platform. Once the registration is successful, users can successfully login and they can search for an event that they are interested in and filter them according to their interests. Once the user selects the event then they have to register for it. Once registration for the event is successful, user can join the event in just one click and attend the event on the same platform and can download the participation certificate as well. If a registered user misses an event, he can still watch the recorded session of that event anytime after its completion. The event organizer can create an organization and later post the event. During the event, the organizer can send files and use the chat feature to engage and clear doubts of the attendees. They can also share their screen so that it is visible to all the attendees. Organizers can also capture the attendance of those who are attending, based on which the attendees can be able to download their participation certificates. © 2022 IEEE.
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OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic severely restricted in-person learning. As a result, many educational institutions switched to online platforms to continue teaching. COVID-19 webinars have been useful for rapidly disseminating information to frontline healthcare workers. While conducting COVID-19 webinars through online platforms is a popular method to train medical professionals, their effectiveness has never been investigated. Our aim was to ascertain the usefulness of COVID-19 webinars during the pandemic. METHODS: We conducted an online survey of about 400 frontline healthcare workers. 112 people responded to the survey (response rate = 28%). In it, we asked several questions to determine whether webinars had been a useful resource to help deal with COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: We found that a majority of healthcare worker respondents had favorable opinions of online education during the pandemic as around 78% of respondents either agreed or highly agreed that webinars are a useful source of knowledge. A significant proportion (34%) did not participate in webinars and gave time constraints as their main reason for not participating. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that while online education is a great way to disseminate information quickly to a large amount of people, it also comes with its disadvantages. As we transition into a post-pandemic world, we need to make sure that online teaching is designed with the best interests of the healthcare workers in mind to ensure that we get the most out of it.
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COVID-19 , Pandemics , Health Personnel , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate the virtual synchronous continuing professional development (CPD) through webinars organized by a rural university in a developing country. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the results highlighted the resourcefulness of the organizers to resolve technological and financial limitations prevalent across the preparation and implementation stages. The desire to participate in the narrative of CPD during the COVID-19 pandemic resorted to researching, testing, and utilizing free online platforms to deliver knowledge and skills to a wider audience. Screen sharing and audio-video streaming through social media were enough to facilitate the webinars. The result of the evaluation revealed that the webinars were appreciated by the participants and contributed to the increase in their knowledge of the topics presented. The CPD project also confirms the disparity in resources confronting institutions in developing countries like low internet bandwidth, outmoded internet cable wires, and unreliable supply of electricity. Management systems may be revisited to keep up with the pace in instruction and extension services in the light of changing requirements of the new normal. © 2022 Arvin Kim Arnilla.
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Webinars in Library and Information Science are on the rise during the COVID-19 period. This is much more visible in the Indian scenario. This article is an empirical study. This article gives a glimpse of the number & types of webinars in LIS from April 2020 to June 2021. The designation and gender of resource persons, the platforms of organization hosting these webinars, the frequency of the webinars and the subject matters of these webinars have all been focused clearly here. The methodology followed is the content analysis method of the various webinars held during COVID-19 period. The findings depict that total 460 national and international webinars were conducted during this COVID-19 period from April 2020 to June 2021, May and June 2020 were peak time of webinar 131 (28.47 %) followed by July 2020, 52 (11.30 %) and September 2020, 46 (10.00 %). This article therefore points towards the direction the subject Library and Information Science is heading and specially its design and ramifications in India.
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The objective of Wellness Wednesday with FCHS was to develop, deliver, and evaluate extension programming in a virtual format for effective audience outreach and impact during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The impact of the webinar series was evaluated with overall outcomes supporting participants in moving through the stages of behavior change based on knowledge gained from participation. The target audience for this webinar series was adults interested in virtual health education in New Jersey. Participation has grown to include viewers from 41 states, 2 territories and Norway. Wellness Wednesday focuses on a variety of topics related to food, nutrition, wellness, and healthy lifestyles. This series provides viewers with easy steps to add positive health behaviors to daily living, featuring a new topic each week. Qualtrics surveys and Zoom polling tools were used to collect data on attendees' demographics, knowledge gained, and intended behavior changes. Questions on behavior change intentions are meant to assess participant movement from pre-contemplation to contemplation on the transtheoretical model. Total State-wide FCHS programming for in-person education was 9,709 in 2019. Wellness Wednesday with FCHS webinar series alone reached 5,008 unique users or 51% of total department outreach from 2019. This significant increase in outreach from just Wellness Wednesday demonstrates the tremendous impact of virtual education. An average of 137 people attended each webinar, peaking at 231 attending live webinars in 2021. The vast majority (88%) of attendees who responded to webinar polls indicated knowledge gained and intention for positive behavior change. The program's popularity has provided a platform for meeting the diverse needs of participants and expanding nutrition, physical activity, and wellness education. Program evaluation demonstrates effective delivery of virtual learning, audience outreach, and impact through increased knowledge and behavior change intention. Outcomes and lessons learned can support program replication at other Universities and educational settings. NIFA
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Background: COVID-19 has a significant impact on lives worldwide. Owing to the adverse effect of this pandemic, there has been a major shift from in-person learning activities to virtual learning. Different methods of virtual learning or e-learning, such as online classes and webinars, have emerged rapidly. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the perceptions of healthcare professionals regarding e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online survey was conducted using Microsoft Forms sent via a text link to mobile phones and emails to healthcare professionals. The questionnaire had multiple-choice questions and five-point scaling to determine perceptions about virtual learning. Data in the form of responses were collected, analyzed, and summarized as mean ± standard deviation and percentage. Results: Responses were received from a total of 410 participants, out of which 240 (58.54%) were females, and 170 (41.46%) were males. Among all participants, 294 (71.71%) were doctors. A vast majority of participants (90%) attended online webinar/e-conferences since the pandemic. The mobile phone was the most commonly used device for e-learning. More than half of the participants opined that in-person meetings are more effective than virtual meetings. In terms of medical learning, 40.48% of participants believed that virtual conferences are more convenient compared to conventional in-person attendance. According to 42.2% of participants, lack of personal interaction in virtual meetings affected their ability to acquire knowledge and experience. Conclusion: Our survey demonstrated the acceptance of virtual learning by healthcare professionals as a new learning method. The majority of participants seem willing to adapt to this new medium. © 2022 Hamad et al.
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Because of the corona pandemic, most people were forced to quarantine to prevent this disease from spreading. For continuing work and not to stop the wheel of life, most people went to use training workshops to develop the skills of employees and commence different webinar meetings and conferences. Therefore, many platforms were used to conduct these workshops and scientific meetings. This study was carried out for evaluating the performance of these platforms based on data collected through an electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed on base of answering by academic professors. The answers to that questionnaire express the point of view of the participants in the courses or e-learning and the lecturers. The platforms included in this study are the most used during these days called: Free Conference Call (FCC), Zoom, Webex, Google meet. The study addressed the issues to evaluate the most appropriate platform to use in point of view of lecturer or attendee. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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The ease of performing a laboratory test near to the patient, at the point-of-care, has resulted in the integration of point-of-care tests into healthcare treatment algorithms. However, their importance in patient care necessitates regular oversight and enforcement of best laboratory practices. This review discusses why this oversight is needed, it’s importance in ensuring quality results and processes that can be placed to ensure point-of-care tests are chosen carefully so that both oversight can be maintained and patient care is improved. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of delivering focused webinars and continuing education in a variety of formats. © 2021 International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. All rights reserved.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the students, the teachers and all educational institutions to rapidly adapt to the online learning. The EUROCONTROL Institute of Air Navigation Services - EUROCONTROL's training centre, which supplies more than 200 courses related to ATM/CNS, had to review its traditional training modules to ensure continuous delivery of the courses and in the desired quality. The theoretical courses were relatively easily transformed to virtual courses by using one of the major webinar platforms - Zoom. However, the courses with hands-on sessions were much more difficult to modify. Numerous challenges included cybersecurity of the test equipment to be connected to the internet, the quality of the connection, the adequate number of participants and, naturally, reasonable costs. This article describes the transformation of courses for the 3 EUROCONTROL's surveillance products ARTAS, SASS-S and SDDS from face-to-face to virtual. © 2021 IEEE.
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The current pandemic closed schools worldwide, tasking teachers to engage learners remotely without time to prepare. This study focuses on a professional development webinar series for English language teachers worldwide. Access to geographically dispersed English language teachers created an opportunity to gain international perspectives on teachers' challenges, perceptions, and needs related to transitioning to remote, online teaching. We found webinars were an effective way to provide just-in-time professional development for teachers globally, particularly about engaging students, providing feedback, developing online presence, and creating activities specific for online learning environments. The main challenges teachers reported facing were keeping their students engaged and progressing in the learning activities;unequal student access to technology and the internet;and learning and troubleshooting technology. At the same time, learning new technology and online resources was also what teachers most frequently reported enjoying about remote teaching.
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The sudden transformation of the educational landscape due to COVID-19 highlighted the need to embrace technology to sustain continuous professional learning. Wider Internet use, availability of technology platforms, and restrictions brought about by the pandemic have led to the proliferation of webinars. While generally effective in delivering its promises, research has not fully grasped the determinants that can sustain its continued use. Using a quantitative inquiry using PLS-SEM, we approached 181 working professionals to capture their perceptions on the usage continuance of webinars during COVID-19. We found that information quality and utilitarianism directly determine satisfaction. The study further confirms that satisfaction and social influence are variables that determine the usage continuance of webinars among professionals.