Thirty-three vascular residency programs among 13 countries joining forces to improve surgical education in times of COVID-19: A survey-based assessment

Abstract

Background Academic interaction with mentors has almost become minimal due to the current pandemic of COVID-19. The objective of this study is to introduce how a group of vascular surgery residencies joined forces to improve surgical education in times of COVID-19. Methods On May 2020, a group of Hispanic American vascular residency programs created webinar sessions of arterial and venous clinical cases among vascular residents across Latin America and Europe. Participants were surveyed via email. Questions were about the perceived quality and utility of the webinars; answers were stratified into negative (disagree), neutral, and positive (agree). Results There have been 60 sessions and 118 clinical cases presented. The survey was answered by 106 participants, 82 males (78.8%) and 24 women (23.0%). Fifty-four (51.9%) were board-certified vascular surgeons, 49 (47.1%) vascular surgery residents, and 2 (1.9%) general surgery residents. Mean age of the participants was 41.5 years (range: 25–74 years). Mean years of vascular surgery practice or experience were 11.2 years (range: 0–45 years). The residency programs involved in this project were from 13 different countries. Most answers received were positive for both perceived quality and utility of the webinars. Conclusion Globalization and technology provide an opportunity for international education, with the goal of building well-rounded and academic vascular surgeons. This group is just the beginning of a large collaborative group among Hispanic American countries, hoping that more residency programs will join, with the aim of breaking borders in the education of vascular surgery.

Vascular E-Learning in Mainland China: results of the e-Learning during the COVID-19 pandemic (EL-COVID) study

“…Although relevant before the outbreak, the use of eL as avenue for vascular surgery training has grown exponentially during the pandemic period [14,15]. The EL-COVID study is the largest international survey to date that addressed the utility and overall adoption of e-learning in the international vascular surgery community during the COVID 19 pandemic and complements the limited, previously reported data [4,5,15].…”

Latin American Residents’ Surgical Education After the Pandemic: What Strategies Have Emerged for Adapting to This New Era?

“…Thanks to this implementation, a pediatric surgery program changed their in-person academic sessions to online presentations via “ZOOM,” allowing them to double the attendance and facilitating undergraduate and foreign students’ participation 20 . Likewise, a vascular surgery training program involving 33 institutions from 13 countries was carried out via “ZOOM,” 18 allowing participants to compare the incidence of vascular diseases and their management between different countries.…”

Análisis de la difusión y utilidad percibida a través de la implementación de una plataforma de formación virtual durante la pandemia por COVID-19

“…El impacto de la pandemia COVID 19 en la formacio ´n de los especialistas en cirugı ´a es variable dependiendo en parte del an ˜o de residencia o de la pra ´ctica quiru ´ rgica, pero es indudable que, durante los meses de pandemia, se han reducido las oportunidades de formacio ´n quiru ´ rgica de forma significativa [4][5][6][7] . Esta situacio ´n llevo ´a la bu ´ squeda de alternativas de formacio ´n viables, con el objetivo de disminuir este impacto negativo 8,9 . El Aula Virtual AEC surgio ´en abril del 2020 como una alternativa de docencia en tiempos de crisis sanitaria que intentaba sustituir parcialmente a los cursos presenciales anulados.…”