Transitioning to a new era: Future directions for staff development during COVID-19

Practical tips for a fast and successful transition to an online curriculum

The COVID-19 pandemic and the following lockdown forced educational institutions to transform their face-to-face curriculum into an online programme in a matter of weeks. In this article, we present 12 tips for a successful transition based on the challenges that we faced in the Bachelor of Medicine at Amsterdam Medical Centre. These tips are divided in four main themes: infrastructure, faculty development, student engagement, and teaching activities. The Community of Inquiry model is used as backbone in all tips, since the three elements, teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence are essential factors in effective online education. These tips can be useful for everyone who wants to implement online education in their curriculum, whether borne out of necessity or by design.

The Perceived Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Medical Education of Residents in 2021 and 2022

Background Recent studies reported how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the medical education community. However, little is known about the further influence of the pandemic over time and about the impact across the different medical disciplines. Objective Our objective was to investigate how residents working in different disciplines and on different tracks (full- vs part-time) perceived the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022 on their education. Methods The data were collected with a questionnaire (developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Swiss Institute for Medical Education) as part of the Swiss national annual survey on medical education. We assessed the influence of the pandemic on medical residents from different specialties in 2021 and 2022 with 3 items: global effect on education, available time for education, and effect on teaching. Results The questionnaire had a response rate of 70% (8496 of 12 137) in 2021 and 2022 (8823 of 12 604). In 2021, residents reported that the pandemic had a negative influence (3.5 of 5; P<.001; 95% CI 0.49, 0.53) and impaired their education. The negative influence declined (t=7.91; P<.001; 95% CI 0.07, 0.11) but remained noticeable in 2022 (3.4 of 5; P<.001; 95% CI 0.41, 0.44). This pattern of results was similar among the different medical specialties. In both years, residents working full-time reported a more severe influence of the pandemic than those working part-time (eg, in 2021 impaired education: 3.1 of 4 vs 2.9 of 4; P<.01; 95% CI -0.26, -0.14). Conclusions The negative influence of the pandemic declined across all medical disciplines.

Developing a programmatic approach to faculty development and scholarship using the ASPIRE criteria: AMEE Guide No. 165

Faculty Development (FD) has become essential in shaping design, delivery and quality assurance of health professions education. The growth of FD worldwide has led to a heightened expectation for quality and organizational integrity in the delivery of FD programmes. To address this, AMEE, An International Association for Health Professions Education, developed quality standards for FD through the development of the AMEE ASPIRE to Excellence criteria. This guide uses the ASPIRE criteria as a framework for health professions educators who wish to establish or expand approaches to FD delivery and scholarship within their institutions.

Successful implementation of Medical Education Faculty Development Project at Saint George University of Beirut in the immediate post triple blow to Beirut

Background

The aim of this study is to explore the efficacy of the Faculty Development Program (FDP) implemented at the Saint George University of Beirut-Faculty of Medicine (SGUB FM) under exceptional circumstances as the triple blow to Beirut.

Methods

The Faculty Development, directed towards a cohort of 35 faculty members, is composed of two major components: methodology of teaching and techniques of assessment. The Kirkpatrick's assessment model, in combination with a specifically designed psychological questionnaire, were chosen to assess the effectiveness of the faculty development initiative.

Results

Results of the different questionnaires were interpreted individually, then through the lens of the psychological questionnaire. A majority of faculty (55%) were significantly affected psychologically by Beirut's triple blow and 77% of all participants found the workshops to be of excellent quality (Kirkpatrick's Level I). Moreover, Kirkpatrick's level II results yielded a 76% mean percentage of correct answers to post-workshops MCQs and a significant improvement in the mean results of the self-assessment questionnaires, administered before and after each workshop. Results also show that the more a trainee is psychologically affected, the less he/she performs as evidenced by a decrease in the satisfaction rate as well as in the score of the cognitive MCQs and of the self-assessment questionnaires.

Conclusions

This study was able to highlight that significant learning can occur amidst exceptional circumstances like the Beirut triple blow and administration should invest in professional growth to retain its faculty.

Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) During COVID-19: CPD Providers' Perspectives

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 precipitated many CPD providers to develop new technology competencies to create effective online CPD. This study aims to improve our understanding of CPD providers' comfort level, supports, perceived advantages/disadvantages, and issues in technology-enhanced CPD delivery during COVID-19. A survey was distributed to CPD providers at the University of Toronto and members of the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Of the 111 respondents, 81% felt very to somewhat confident to provide online CPD, but less than half reported IT, financial, or faculty development supports. The top reported advantage to online CPD delivery was reaching a new demographic; top disadvantages included videoconferencing fatigue, social isolation, and competing priorities. There was interest in using less frequently used educational technology such as online collaboration tools, virtual patients, and augmented/virtual reality. COVID-19 precipitated an increased comfort level in using synchronous technologies to provide CPD, giving the CPD community an increased cultural acceptance and skill level to build on. As we move beyond the pandemic, it will be important to consider ongoing faculty development, particularly toward asynchronous and HyFlex delivery methods to continue expand CPD reach and negate negative online experiences such as videoconferencing fatigue, social isolation, and online distractions.

The void: COVID-19 restrictions and junior doctor education opportunities

BACKGROUND

In the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, the modes of hospital service delivery, education, training, and the context surrounding them has undergone enormous change and disruptions.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to understand the 'lived-experience' of junior doctors in relation to their education, training, and professional development during the pandemic.

METHODS

A qualitative study based on thematic and cohort narrative analysis. 20 junior doctors who trained at an Australian tertiary paediatric hospital during the time of COVID-19 restrictions were interviewed. Based on a phenomenological approach, the interviews examined junior doctors' experiences in relation to medical education, adaptive education styles and the value attributed by participants to different forms of education provided to them.

RESULTS

Four overarching themes were identified regarding trainee perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on learning opportunities, both positive and negative. These were: 'The void' - learning expectations junior doctors felt were missed, education affordances, peers and networks, and professional identity.

CONCLUSION

The pace with which educators have adapted to new teaching modes should be harnessed to incite equally novel curriculum evolution, smart investment in clinical moments, reconnect learning communities and create robust virtual learning environments.

Faculty Development in the COVID-19 Era: A Rapid Systematic Review

Background: The coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a worldwide evolving situation that has resulted in rapid adaptations of faculty development interventions in medical education. The present rapid systematic review aims to provide a narrative synthesis of the evidence concerning focus, intervention type, instructional methods, duration, and the evaluations results of the faculty development interventions in the medical education area in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a systematic study conducted on 5 databases (Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, ERIC, and Scopus) from December 2019 to November 2021. We used specific keywords such as faculty development, COVID-19, and medical education on electronic databases. To find additional relevant studies, we conducted a forward and backward searching strategy by checking the reference lists and citations of the included articles. Studies reporting the educational faculty development interventions in medical education during the COVID-19 era and those articles published in English were included. Titles, abstracts, and full texts were screened and the data were extracted by 2 authors. Results: Ten articles were included, most of which were focused on the improvement of online teaching and learning skills. The findings are organized into 2 main categories, including a description of the interventions, and the special aspects of the studies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: This review explores the evidence concerning faculty development programs in the medical education area in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These interventions may develop individual abilities and organizational capacities of health professions educators to enable them to sustain academic vitality and cope with the pandemic crisis. Also a rapid movement to online faculty developments, which will likely continue after the pandemic, was argued and it is required to direct the adaptations and innovations of educational developments to an organized structure in the future.

A Graphic Transformation: A Qualitative Study of Transformative Learning in Medical Trainees during COVID-19 Using Comics as Data Presentation

Phenomenon: Transformative learning is a theory in which individuals construct new or revised interpretations of the meaning of an experience. COVID-19 offers a rare opportunity to better understand how individuals respond to and make meaning within the shared context of an extraordinary event. We aimed to examine if and how residents and fellows engaged in transformative learning when caring for COVID-19 positive patients during the initial peak of the pandemic (Spring 2020).Approach: We conducted an interpretive qualitative study to identify themes pertaining to transformative learning. We used semi-structured interviews of residents and fellows who were directly or indirectly involved in the care of COVID-19 positive patients admitted to the inpatient wards or the intensive care units during the first peak of the pandemic (defined as March 11th - May 28th, 2020) at our Mid-Atlantic academic health system. We used the medium of comics to depict select interviewees' experiences during the pandemic as a novel way to represent themes from the interviews.Findings: Three main themes arose from our qualitative analysis. These included "a sense of guilt," "the impact on training," and "venues and processes for reflection." In comparing their experiences with colleagues and friends at other institutions with higher COVID-19 case volume, trainees reflected on how they felt lucky, and this led to guilt, although not necessarily transformation. The impact of COVID-19 on the training environment had transformative potential. Trainees challenged their previously held assumptions on the necessity of various surgeries, in-person visits, and physical examination maneuvers when COVID-19 posed a barrier. Finally, while trainees recalled multiple situations throughout the pandemic when they believed they were engaging in reflection, such reflection did not appear to reach so deep as to alter participants' underlying assumptions until the research interview itself, suggesting that transformation was incomplete.Insights: Our purposive sample of residents and fellows who cared for COVID-19 positive patients during the initial peak of the pandemic made meaning of their experience in multiple ways. The largest shift in worldview due to the pandemic appeared to be related to the instrumental utility of certain common medical practices or procedures. This, in turn, was the most prominent influence on how these trainees felt they would practice in the future, and translated to a shift in how they appraised evidence. However, lack of opportunity for reflection may have adversely impacted the ability for transformation to take place. Given that multiple trainees showed appreciation for the critical reflection venue that was the research interview, academic leadership should ensure similar venues exist during training, even after the pandemic ends.

Transitioning to Virtual Meetings: Experiences From the Society for Education in Anesthesia Virtual Fall 2020 Meeting

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organizers of traditional in-person continuing medical education conferences to transition to a virtual format. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this change in format. When planning a virtual meeting, several factors require consideration, including costs, virtual platforms, sponsorship, networking, and meeting logistics. This manuscript describes the authors' experiences of transforming the Society of Education in Anesthesia 2020 Fall Meeting into a virtual conference and explores the lessons learned and future impacts of this new medium.

Teaching Pathology in an Integrated Preclinical Medical School Curriculum and Adaptations to COVID-19 Restrictions

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a major impact on education at all age levels, including professional schools and health professions programs. We describe the experience of adapting preclinical medical school courses within an integrated curriculum to virtual instruction. A major feature of two of the courses were pathology small groups adapted from pathology courses in the previous medical school curriculum. These small groups were designed to use facilitated groups of 8 to 10 students. With a sudden change to virtual learning, these small groups were shifted to large group virtual sessions. In general, the conversion went well, with ongoing optimization of the format of the large group sessions mainly occurring over the first several sessions. End-of-course student evaluations were generally positive, but with a preference toward returning to live sessions in the future. Scores on 5 multiple choice examinations in the spring 2020 course were essentially identical in mean, standard deviation, and distribution to examinations in the previous 2 years of the course that had similar layout and topic organization. We discuss the challenges and successes of the switch to virtual instruction and of teaching pathology content within an integrated medical school curriculum.