The Feasibility and Effectiveness of an Online Curriculum for Virtual Onboarding/Orientation of Graduate Medical Education Learners During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background Graduate medical education (GME) orientation/onboarding is conventionally an in-person activity, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted virtual approaches to learner onboarding. However, online GME onboarding strategies have not been disseminated in the literature. Objective To determine the usefulness of an online curriculum for GME learner orientation at a large sponsoring institution using an electronic survey. The primary outcome was to discover the usefulness of our online curriculum for GME onboarding, and secondary outcomes included identifying barriers to implementation and weaknesses associated with online GME orientation. Methods We created an online GME orientation curriculum to onboard incoming learners (from June 1 to August 31, 2020) and electronically surveyed our learners to determine the usefulness of this novel approach. We conducted orientation sessions and electronically recorded questionnaire responses using CarmenCanvas, our institutional learning management system. Linear regression analysis was performed to identify factors predicting satisfaction with virtual GME orientation using IBM SPSS Statistics, Version 26.0 (Armonk, NY, USA). Results Of 353 trainees, 272 completed the survey for a 77% response rate. 97% of respondents reported that the curriculum supported performance of learner duties. 79% of trainees perceived the overall quality as “very good” or “good”, 91% responded that the curriculum provided “effective learning”, 94% reported “accessing the course content easily”, 92% reported “easily navigating the curriculum”, 91% described the curriculum as “well-organized”, and 87% reported that the lectures “supported their learning”. Conclusion Online delivery of a comprehensive GME orientation curriculum is useful and facilitates learner education, training, and integration into a large GME institution in the COVID-19 era.

In Reply:

“…2,3 Little research exists regarding onboarding specific to the transition from medical school to residency, but early work suggests that comprehensive onboarding is beneficial. 4 The transition from undergraduate to graduate medical education can be considered through the lens of health systems science, often neglected in medical education. 5,6 Health systems science focuses on the work of health care professionals within the context of the surrounding structures that influence health care delivery.…”

“…2,3 Little research exists regarding onboarding specific to the transition from medical school to residency, but early work suggests that comprehensive onboarding is beneficial. 4…”