Table 4.
Themes That Emerged Related to Education Innovations Implemented in Response to the Pandemic
| Theme | Sample responses |
|---|---|
| Pivot to online conferences/didactics | Implementation of virtual surgical conferences; enhanced daily didactic sessions (virtual); online morbidity and mortality conferences, journal club, tumor board, and grand rounds |
| Use of national programs/curriculum | Use of nationally available curricula to a much greater extent; city-wide shared lecture/educational sessions; virtual score curriculum; using national OB/GYN curriculum; national webinars on surgical training; collaboration with other institutions on virtual meetings |
| Simulation/laboratories/robotics | Increased use of wet laboratory for technical surgery practice; developed take-home simulation kits for certain procedures; structured individual trainee sessions in fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery simulation; boot camp remotely including simulation at home; live video of wet laboratory monitored remotely by an attending; increased use of surgical simulators to keep from getting "rusty" |
| Continued exposure to clinical work | Virtual clinical rounding; more involvement in the ICU rotations; increased experience with remote consultation; live streaming of operating room cases with residents able to ask questions; telehealth participation by residents in pre- and postoperative care |
| Scheduling | Modified rotations to give more cases to residents with fewer cases; created teams of residents that would work in clinic at same time so that there was less likelihood of all the residents being exposed; moved some residents to our suburban locations; dynamic scheduling to maximize surgical exposure; improved planning of staffing with rotating key individuals; modified schedule to mirror weekends: teams get work done and sign out to a call team who stays |
| Virtual mentoring/mock-orals/examinations | Virtual mock oral examination that allowed us to use examiners from other institutions; virtual interviews for residents and fellows; virtual oral board preparations |