A web-based survey of educational opportunities of medical professionals based on changes in conference design during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, understanding how to hold future online academic conferences effectively is imperative. We assessed the impact of COVID-19 on academic conferences, including facilities and settings for attendance, participation status, cost burden, and preferences for future styles of holding conferences, through a web-based questionnaire survey of 2,739 Japanese medical professionals, from December 2020 to February 2021. Of the participants, 28% preferred web conferences, 60% preferred a mix of web and on-site conferences, and 12% preferred on-site conferences. Additionally, 27% of the presenters stopped presenting new findings at web conferences. The proportion of participants who audio-recorded or filmed the sessions, despite prohibition, was six times higher at web than face-to-face conferences. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the percentage of participants attending general presentations decreased from 91 to 51%. While web conferencing offers advantages, these are offset by a decrease in presentations pertaining to novel findings and data. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10639-022-11032-5.

Factors Beyond Carbon Footprint of Live vs Virtual Eye Meetings

“…Roffi et al have demonstrated that reducing barriers to entry by utilizing virtual access dramatically increases participant numbers, with a greater proportion of attendees who are younger, female, or from developing countries. This has been further emphasized in surveys demonstrating the explicit preference of participants toward virtual or hybrid style conferences over FTF …”

“…While participants often show a preference toward virtual meetings, researchers report a reluctance to submit academic abstracts to meetings that are held virtually, preferring FTF meetings . Maybe this is related to the opportunities to network and gain feedback from colleagues that may not be possible for a virtual meeting.…”