Physicians’ attitude towards webinars and online education amid COVID-19 pandemic: When less is more

Abstract

Background Since the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, all scientific medical activities were shifted to an online format, in the form of webinars, to maintain continuing medical education (CME). We aimed to assess physicians’ attitude among different medical specialties towards this sudden and unexpected shift of traditional face-to-face meetings into webinars, and to suggest future recommendations. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional, internet-based survey study using a 25-item questionnaire, from November 1 and November 15, 2020. The survey was created and distributed to physicians from different medical and surgical specialties and from different countries via several social media platforms, using a snowball technique. Results A total of 326 physicians responded; 165 (50.6%) were females, mean age of responders was 38.7 ± 7.5 years. The majority of responses (93.2%) came from Arab countries. Of them, 195 (59.8%) reported attending more webinars compared to the same period last year, with average of 3 per month. As regard to the general impression; 244 (74.8%) were “strongly satisfied” or “satisfied”, with the most satisfaction for “training courses: by 268 (82.2%), and “International conferences” by 218 (66.9%). However, 246 respondents (75.5%) felt overwhelmed with the number and frequency of webinars during the pandemic, 171 (52.5%) reported attending less than 25% of webinars they are invited to, 205 (62.8%) disagreed that webinars can replace in-person meetings after the pandemic, and 239 (73.3%) agreed that online meetings need proper regulations. Conclusions Webinars comprised a major avenue for education during COVID-19 pandemic, with initial general satisfaction among physicians. However, this paradigm shift was sudden and lacked proper regulations. Despite initial satisfaction, the majority of physicians felt overwhelmed with the number and frequency of webinars. Physicians’ satisfaction is crucial in planning future educational activities, and considering that this current crisis will most likely have long lasting effects, webinars should be viewed as complementing traditional in-person methods, rather than replacement. In this study, we are suggesting recommendations to help future regulation of this change.

Evaluation of the Impact of Webinar Training in Comparison to Conventional Training on COVID-19 Risk Perception in Emergency Medical Technicians

“…The disruption of conventional medical education across the world in the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the use of webinars to maintain teaching and learning. In a study, the use of webinars in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 was reported to increase by more than 300% (24).…”

Multidisciplinary approach of teaching radiology to medical students in Egypt: Is this an effective method?

“…In addition, using an online educational model also helps reach a greater number of students and gives them access to the same kinds of resources, which offers a robust learning experience and more equal field of opportunities that these students may otherwise not have been able to access [ 18 , 19 ]. This is shown in other virtual education models that have been implemented in interdisciplinary fields in Egyptian medical schools.…”

“…Overall, employing a multidisciplinary approach to radiology education at the medical student level can successfully be done virtually, both in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to the changing fabric of medicine, with telehealth becoming more popular [ 18 , 23 ]. Online medical education can reach a wider range of students and their learning can be adequately assessed with a combination of live discussion sessions and testing methods [ 19 , 24 ].…”

Taking the Learner on a Journey – An analysis of an Integrated Virtual CME Program in Epilepsy during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Medical schools and institutions also faced the necessity for a significant increase in online learning. While this was initially well perceived by physicians and healthcare personal in general, physicians felt overwhelmed by the increased amount of offers and frequency of invitations [ 5 , 6 ]. A study from India examining the barriers in using E-learning methods for medical education suggests that Internet and utility infrastructure are major problems in accessing E-learning [ 7 ].…”

“…It was complementary to the ILAE curriculum and had the objective of improving knowledge, understanding and application of current and upcoming scientific research in epilepsy related to COVID 19 and relevant for HCPs active in epilepsy. Through a highly interactive approach, including case-based learning, integrated tests and different digital formats, the project aimed to counteract the “digital fatigue” that has been identified in the literature [ 5 ]. Our review revealed that current literature about education under COVID-19 is largely focused on the evaluation of single or distinct series of single interventions.…”