ePoster
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Presentation Description
Chris Harlow1
Stephanie Williams2, Arun Sivananthan3, Neel Kapoor, Louise Schofield4 and Clifford Lisk5
1 King's College Hospital
2 Royal Free Hospital
3 Imperial College London
4 Royal Free London
5 Barnet Hospital
Stephanie Williams2, Arun Sivananthan3, Neel Kapoor, Louise Schofield4 and Clifford Lisk5
1 King's College Hospital
2 Royal Free Hospital
3 Imperial College London
4 Royal Free London
5 Barnet Hospital
Background
The London Medical Trainee Network was set up to provide virtual teaching via Zoom for Internal Medicine Trainees in London, UK following the cessation of in-person teaching because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We outline the standard operating procedure (SOP), process of communication and lessons learned over the three years of the program.
Summary of work
A SOP was created by Education fellows and Supervising Trainer; one afternoon teaching per month consisting of three 40-minute talks on a medical specialty, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. Talks are guideline-based with three to five multiple-choice questions (answered via an interactive polling platform). To reduce technical problems, we run a test call in the preceding week.
We communicate primarily through WhatsApp groups with only administrators allowed to post, with no external advertising, and maximum once-daily posts during normal working hours. All our slides and posters are formatted to a distinctive, uniform design. Anonymised feedback is required for automated certification. Panel discussions have been introduced.
Results
Twenty-eight sessions have occurred in 2022/23. The mean attendance this year was 333 trainees. 98% feel the sessions ran smoothly, 99% would recommend to others, 92% felt able to ask questions, and 86% feel our teaching is at least as effective as face-to-face. Benefits include no travel (90%) and ability to watch later (86%), while loss of social interaction (60%) was felt to be a negative. 100% gave positive qualitative feedback on slide design.
Conclusions
Our experience shows that a well organised virtual teaching program has a significant role in the delivery of consistently high-quality teaching that is at least as effective as face-to-face teaching, with the advantage of being available as recordings and no travel. We need to do work on integrating virtual teaching and face to face teaching to get the best of both worlds.
References (maximum three)
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