Virtual medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic: how to make it work

Introduction

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, has brought many new challenges to healthcare workers around the globe. The number of COVID-19 patients started rising in the USA after the first reported case in January 2020.¹ Physicians in training, an essential part of the healthcare system, have found themselves to be in critical positions as a direct result of the pandemic as they continue to care for patients and work to expand their medical knowledge and skills beyond books during this uncertain time.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended sanitary and social distancing guidelines to be followed by individuals as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the USA. These guidelines include proper handwashing techniques and maintaining at least 6 feet distance from others in social and work settings whenever possible. Therefore, many medical facilities, institutions, and societies recognized the need to cancel most of the in-person lectures and conferences to ensure compliance with the CDC and minimize the risk of exposure of medical personnel.^2,3 The CDC’s social distancing guidelines have given rise to innovative ways of continuing work and study productivity via virtual meetings using online platforms including, but not limited to, Microsoft Teams (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA), Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, San Jose, CA, USA), and WebEx (Cisco Webex, Milpitas, CA, USA).

In this new normal, virtual meetings have provided a solution for physicians to continue receiving education, training, and communications. Though virtual meetings attempt to resemble in-person meetings as closely as possible, these have a different dynamic as the presenter and attendees find themselves speaking to a camera rather than to a physical audience. This virtual environment takes away from the human element of immediate feedback through non-verbal cues, but in return it provides benefit of remote attendance to keep attendees safe from contagion.

How can one ensure successful and enriched virtual meetings? Just like in-person meetings, virtual meetings require as much advanced preparation, if not more (Figure 1) since virtual meetings tend to open the door to reaching a greater audience, which could in turn lead to new networking opportunities. Thus, this reinforces the importance of first impressions and the need to prepare in advance for virtual meetings to be successful.

Figure 1.

Delivery of medical education: how to prepare and run a virtual meeting.

Personal and technical preparation

Environment

Virtual meetings should uphold the same etiquette and professional standards as physical meetings. Presenters and attendees must be conscious of their attire/grooming, background, and location to be professionally acceptable. Naturally, virtual meetings tend to give the opportunity for multitasking, but minimizing distractions within your control such as avoiding checking Emails, browsing the internet, etc. will aid in maintaining the meeting focused to gain the most from the information presented.

Camera

Video conferences are more effective when attendees can see each other as this provides for immediate feedback through facial expressions and encourages engagement in conversation. For the best experience, ensure your computer has a functioning camera, for your location to be well illuminated to avoid dark and/or grainy videos, and for all attendees to maintain a face-focused camera mode to resemble the intimacy of an in-person meeting.

Audio and microphone

Many computers lack built-in microphones. Prior to the video conference, review the computer to be used and make necessary arrangements if there is a lack of a microphone. Most major video conferencing platforms offer dial-in options that may be used for audio and microphone. To achieve the best sound quality, head- or earphones are a great way to cancel out external noise and maintain a crisp level of sound. Additionally, if you find your computer to be limiting, you may opt to use the chosen video conference platform’s application on a smart phone or tablet.

Prior to, starting, and during the meeting

If you are the main presenter, log in to the virtual meeting a few minutes in advance to run a quick test trial and resolve any unforeseen technical issues prior to attendees logging in. Kick-start the meeting by checking in with attendees to ensure everyone can see and hear you to address any technical issues from the attendees’ side. During the presentation, both presenter and attendees should mute their microphones when not speaking and personal devices throughout the duration of the meeting to prevent interruptions.

Presentation

Prior to starting a presentation, the virtual meeting’s main presenter or facilitator should make sure to properly introduce his/herself and other presenters, state meeting ground rules such as proper ways for the audience to participate and ask questions during the meeting, set an agenda, and have a clear outline of educational points to be emphasized. These actions will aid in the effective delivery of content within the allotted presentation time.

As soon as the presentation is shared or available for viewing to the audience, the audience’s focus will shift to the presentation and the presenter’s voice. Therefore, preparing a presentation with focused material, minimal text, and supporting visuals will enhance the educational experience by effectively delivering the points of the presentation. Presenters should always practice and review the presentation in advance to avoid hiccups, support smooth transitions, and maintain the audience’s engagement during the presentation. If needed, presenters may prepare notes to aid with information recollection.

Occasionally, demonstrations of medical devices are necessary during in-person meetings, and luckily video meetings allow demonstrations to be possible remotely. Despite not having the luxury of physically passing around the medical device for attendees to examine, using live video during virtual meetings allows ‘show and tell’ types of demonstrations of these devices for an engaging learning environment. Similarly, the sharing of pre-recorded demonstration videos can enhance the learning experience.

Lastly, be understanding that attendees may be joining the virtual meeting from unique remote locations and sometimes distractions are unavoidable as many external factors can come into play such as interruption of internet connectivity, technology malfunction, etc. At the end of the presentation, always give the audience a chance to voice concerns or ask questions to ensure understanding of the material delivered. Also, a bonus to virtual meetings is that many platforms allow the recording of meetings to easily share with attendees and absentee attendees. Ultimately, regardless of the attendees’ unique situation during this pandemic, meeting recordings give an opportunity to deliver educational material with flexible accessibility.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many new challenges for the delivery of medical education to healthcare providers as society adjusts to the new normal. Remote and virtual options that align with the CDC’s social distancing guidelines are essential for the continuation of medical education.

References

References are available as supplementary material at European Heart Journal online.