Webinar during COVID-19 Improves Knowledge of Changes to the Plastic Surgery Residency Application Process

Evaluating the utility of a global webinar for mentoring medical students and OBGYN residents in REI

BACKGROUND

In medical school and residency, clinical experiences influence trainee's decisions on what medical specialty they choose. Most trainees have limited access to opportunities to engage in the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of away electives, exposure to REI was especially limited. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a live Q and A webinar on improving trainees' access to mentorship and knowledge of the path to becoming a reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) physician.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study is a prospective paired cohort study. Medical students and OBGYN residents participated in a global Q and A webinar featuring REI physicians and fellows. 70 pre- and post-webinar surveys were included in the analysis. Paired nonparametric tests (Wilcoxon signed-rank test) were performed to assess whether post-webinar knowledge was significantly different from pre-webinar knowledge.

RESULTS

Of the 268 registrants, 162 (60%) attended the live webinar. A majority of the respondents who completed both surveys were female (90%) and allopathic medical students (80%). Seventy-seven percent reported receiving only minimal advice about an REI career from their medical school or residency program, while 22% reported receiving some advice, and 1% extensive advice. Thirty-four percent had previously shadowed an REI physician and 23% had rotated in an REI office. Post-webinar significantly more trainees had a better understanding of the REI field, the path required to become an REI physician, opportunities to find mentors in the field, opportunities that are conducive to learning more about REI, and applying for rotations in the REI field (p = <.00001). Eighty-two percent agreed that their interest in REI increased due to this webinar.

CONCLUSIONS

A webinar featuring REI physicians and fellows was effective in providing mentorship and career advisement for prospective REI trainees who otherwise expressed having limited access to the field.

A Leadership Perspective on the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Residency Application Cycle during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to identify leadership perspective on the impact of COVID-19 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery residency application cycle in 2020 and future implications.

Methods

A survey was sent to residency program leaders (RPL), consisting of program directors and division chiefs/chairs. The survey was sent weekly for a total of 4 weeks and remained open for a total of 28 days.

Results

156 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (PRS) residency program leaders (RPL) were emailed. Response rate was 24% (38/156). 68% were division chiefs/chairs and 42% were program directors. 10% were both division chiefs/chairs and program directors. 78% were male. 87% of RPLs reported changes in number of away rotations, of which 91% reported less away rotations. Only 27% of programs provided virtual away rotations (VAR), and 88% of RPLs were not comfortable writing letters of recommendation after VARs. 100% reported that VARs influenced whether an applicant received an interview. 24 RPLs (63%) reported no changes how they viewed applications due to the pandemic. However, 5 (13%) reported USMLE scores were more important, 4 (11%) reported research more important, and 4 (11%) reported LORs more important. 66% did not feel they relied heavily on home institution candidates. 76% found virtual interviews effective in evaluating applicants and 71% reported they would add virtual interviews to future interview.

Conclusions

During 2020-2021 PRS residency application cycle, fewer away rotations were offered, and formerly in-person activities were moved to virtual platforms. Virtual activities caused difficulty assessing candidates for many residency programs.

The #PedsMatch21 Webinar Series: Coordinated Specialty-Level Communication During the Virtual Residency Application Cycle

PROBLEM

The landscape of pediatric medical education changed significantly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourth-year medical students applying to pediatric residency programs were particularly affected by alterations to traditional away rotations, the inability to conduct in-person visits, and resulting changes in ways of communicating with residency programs. Applicants were concerned about the virtual component of the application cycle and worried as to how to manage the COVID-19-related changes. Program leaders also faced apprehension at how to close communication gaps and effectively use virtual tools to reach applicants.

APPROACH

Founders of the Twitter-based @FuturePedsRes (FPR) organization recognized these concerns and developed a webinar series during the 2020-2021 academic year to create opportunities for programs and applicants to communicate. Leaders of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors and the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics joined as sponsors and co-hosts. The #PedsMatch21 webinar series consisted of 9 total webinars: 2 overviews, 5 regional, 1 for osteopathic students, and 1 for international medical graduates.

OUTCOMES

A total of 138 pediatric residency programs across the country participated in the #PedsMatch21 webinar series. Each webinar brought in a mean of 431 attendees, from the United States and several other countries. Follow-up surveys immediately after each webinar and again at the end of the interview season demonstrated that the webinars decreased applicants' anxiety, provided helpful information on the virtual season, and increased their awareness of programs.

NEXT STEPS

The #PedsMatch21 webinar series demonstrated utility in addressing applicants' concerns and allowing applicants access to a greater number of programs. Webinar-based strategies should be considered across all medical specialties as a useful method of providing accessible forums for programs and applicants.

Going virtual: effectiveness of virtual opportunities in engaging applicants for plastic surgery residencies

Purpose

During the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual events led by residency programs have eased deficits formed by the lack of in-person opportunities. Despite their anecdotal success, there is yet a study on their utility and value, as perceived by attendees. Therefore, we sought to investigate engagement rates of virtual opportunity posts via Instagram, equipping residency programs with recommendations for future virtual event planning.

Methods

The 40 PRS residency programs with the highest number of followers on Instagram were inspected for posts regarding virtual opportunities. The virtual opportunities were classified by type, medium, and intended audience. The number of opportunities within each classification was analyzed, along with the like/comment to follower ratios, and compared via ANOVA tests.

Results

A total of 141 virtual opportunities were evaluated, with the most events occurring in August (21.6%). The highest engagement rates occurred in May and June, with the most common virtual opportunity being meet and greets with residents (39.2%). The most prevalent medium for virtual events was Zoom, used in 84.7% of events. The intended audience was frequently medical students (80.6%), with a significant difference in engagement between audience groups (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The pandemic has disrupted the status quo of resident recruitment. In light of these findings, residency programs should consider instilling virtual opportunities for medical students as a standard practice. Peak times to broadcast events are May or June due to higher engagement. To address attendee burnout, programs should limit events to familiar ones, such as Zoom meet and greets with residents.

Evaluating the utility of an international webinar as a platform to educate students and doctors on the UK core surgical training portfolio

BACKGROUND

Core Surgical Training (CST) is a competitive two-year postgraduate training program in the UK that is scored based on three equally weighted stations: management, clinical and portfolio. Preparing a surgical portfolio can start in medical school, however, there is limited guidance on what forms a competitive portfolio with the majority of advice coming from university resources and national societies which are variable throughout the country. Our aim was to assess the utility of a webinar to educate students and doctors on the CST portfolio to address this disparity.

METHODS

Pre- and post-event questionnaires that included demographic data, 10-point Likert scales to self-report confidence on the understanding of the CST portfolio and its domains, and questions on utilising webinars were distributed to attendees. Pre- and post-event responses were paired, and scores were assessed for normality via the Shapiro-Wilk test; the Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess statistical significance. Cohen's d effect sizes were calculated to report standardised differences between pre-and post-event scores.

RESULTS

A total of 177 participants from over 24 countries responded to both questionnaires. A statistically significant improvement in awareness of how to score maximum points was demonstrated across all nine CST domains (p < 0.0001). Regardless of whether they were UK-based or international, approximately half of the participants stated a preference for a webinar over an in-person format. Interestingly, most attendees did not feel that their university had provided them with adequate information on preparing for a surgical career with over half of the attendees stating that they had to attend events by external organisations to obtain such information.

CONCLUSIONS

This study has demonstrated that a webinar can be effectively utilised to educate students and doctors on the various domains of the CST portfolio and how to maximise points in each section. Such events could address the variability of university resources and national societies across the country and provide equal opportunities for students. Further studies that directly compare webinars with in-person events and investigate long-term outcomes, such as success in CST applications, are required.

COVID-19: a catalyst for the digitization of surgical teaching at a German University Hospital

BACKGROUND

The summer semester 2020, had to be restructured due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the associated contact restrictions. Here, for the first time, the established lectures in lecture halls and small group seminars could not be conducted in presence as usual. A possible tool for the implementation of medical teaching, offers the use of eLearning, online webinars and learning platforms. At present it is unclear how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will affect surgical teaching, how digitization will be accepted by students, and how virtual teaching can be expanded in the future.

METHODS

The teaching, which was previously delivered purely through face-to-face lectures, was completely converted to digital media. For this purpose, all lectures were recorded and were available to students on demand. The seminars were held as a twice a week occurring online webinar. The block internship was also conducted as a daily online webinar and concluded with an online exam at the end. At the end of the semester, a survey of the students was carried out, which was answered by n = 192 students with an anonymized questionnaire. The questionnaire inquires about the previous and current experience with eLearning, as well as the possibility of a further development towards a purely digital university.

RESULTS

There were n = 192 students in the study population. For 88%, the conversion of classes to web-based lectures represented their first eLearning experience. For 77% of all students, the digitization of teaching led to a change in the way they prepare for class. 73% of the participating students are of the opinion that eLearning lectures should continue to be offered. 54% of the students felt that eLearning lectures made more sense than face-to-face lectures. A purely virtual university could be imagined by 41% of the students.

CONCLUSION

The conversion of teaching represented the first contact with eLearning for most students. Overall, the eLearning offering was experienced as positive. Due to the new teaching structure, the way of learning had already changed during the semester. Based on the new eLearning content, the already existing formats can be further expanded in the future. Nevertheless, it turned out that the practical-surgical contents and skills cannot be adequately represented by purely online offers; for this, the development of hybrid practice-oriented teaching concepts is necessary.

Home Field Advantage: Assessing the Geographic Trends of the Plastic Surgery Residency Match during the COVID-19 Pandemic

OBJECTIVE

In previous plastic surgery residency match cycles, in-person activities at other institutions, such as away rotations, have facilitated matches outside of an applicant's home program or region. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, limited these in-person opportunities. Therefore, we hypothesized that applicants of the 2021 cycle would be more likely to match into programs with which they have existing geographic connections when compared to previous years.

DESIGN

Residency websites and social media accounts were searched for resident names and educational information for those matching in 2021 and 2015 to 2020. Outcomes included proportion of applicants matching at the program affiliated with their medical school ("home program"), or matching in the same state or United States Census Map region as their medical school or undergraduate institution. Subgroup analyses were stratified by program region, incoming resident class size, and Doximity residency reputation ranking.

SETTING

Columbia University (New York).

PARTICIPANTS

For the 2015 to 2020 residency cycles, 963 residents were identified from 78 (95.1%) programs. For 2021, 159 incoming interns were identified from 70 (82.3%) programs.

RESULTS

2021 applicants matched into their home program at higher rates than 2015-2020 applicants (36.0% vs. 24.1%, p  = 0.019). This trend was similar regardless of program region or size. This increase was significant for programs ranked outside of the top 30 (41.5% vs. 26.4%, p = 0.032), but not for the top 30 programs (32.1% vs. 22.3%, p = 0.128). Excluding those who matched at their home program, 2015 to 2020 and 2021 applicants matched in the same state or region of their medical school or undergraduate institution at similar rates (p > 0.05 for all).

CONCLUSIONS

During the COVID-19 pandemic, plastic surgery residency programs matched more applicants from affiliated medical schools than in previous years. This may result from lack of in-person opportunities for applicants at other programs. Alternative relationship-building opportunities may facilitate broader geographic connections in the 2022 cycle.

Doctority: Plastic Surgery-An Informative Podcast for Applicants to Learn about Plastic Surgery Training Programs

The COVID-19 pandemic limited the ability of medical students to participate in plastic surgery sub-internships and to attend residency interviews in person during the 2020–2021 match cycle. A podcast and accompanying online directory were created to introduce integrated plastic surgery residency programs to medical students from the perspective of current residents. Since July 2020, a total of 49 plastic surgery residents representing 42 programs have participated in the podcast. Topics of discussion included program logistics, faculty leadership, and aspects of resident lifestyle of interest to medical students and future residency candidates. The podcast has had a total of 5072 downloads (mean 121 downloads per episode). The majority of listeners (90%) were in the United States. Twenty-five plastic surgery applicants who participated in the 2020–2021 National Resident Matching Program match cycle responded to a feedback survey. Listeners reported that the podcast was useful for preparing for interviews, making rank lists, and learning about programs that they otherwise would not have considered. Most listeners (90%) ranked the podcast as one of their top three resources for learning about plastic surgery programs during the application and interview process. Future directions include completion of episodes for all integrated plastic surgery programs and expansion to other surgical subspecialties and plastic surgery fellowships.

Utility and perceptions about web-based academics among physicians during COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction:

Coronaviral disease-19 is the global challenge for medical fraternity and public health sector. Need of social distancing has compelled physicians and surgeons to continue medical education through virtual mode like webinar.

Objective:

To study the perceptions, practice and preferences of medical residents and professionals about webinar-based teaching.

Methods:

An internet-based google-sheet questionnaire was circulated via email and social media for opining different facts about webinar-based teaching. Responses were analysed further to find the facts and preferences.

Results:

Our study showed that majority of participants found webinars as a useful and sustainable mode of teaching however some of them felt it as an overdone action resulting in unnecessary stress.

Conclusion:

Teaching through virtual mode (e.g. webinar) is definitely a valuable tool for medical education especially during the need of social distancing. Its frequency, quantity, and quality should be monitored properly for the optimum outcome.