The covid pandemic has changed life for all of us in the past 1 ½ years. There are many challenges in our day-to-day working life. However, there are also many opportunities and one such opportunity has been to reach out to the experts through webinars and virtual learning classes. We are physically locked out, but not for our mental challenges and our academic pursuits.
The Problem-during the Pandemic
Providing quality orthopedic care is a real challenge during the current pandemic. The period of implemented government lockdown taught us many lessons. There was plenty of ups and downs during the surge. Many orthopedic residents put on COVID duty instead of ward work and lost contact with their subject. When one is not able to concentrate due to apprehension, anxiety and even fear of death, they find it difficult to understand the ABCs of orthopedics. Thus, the teaching program in all the departments was greatly hampered. This was not the story for a few days but for months together.
With this crisis on our hands, the Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) is really had to hard to fulfill its responsibility of the academic need for the orthopedic residents which could help a large number of orthopedic surgeons and improve future health care.
What was OREF is Looking for: Searching for Solutions to Compromised Academics and Compromised Healthcare?
Most of them are trying to serve patients by reducing the health risks by implementing various uses of the Internet, many revolutionized digital technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, etc. We also learned to serve patients in remote areas through telemedicine. We are now moving forward in the quest to deliver and receive surgical care of the patient in other parts of the world through wireless technology. We also felt the need to do something for our academic needs as face-to-face educational activities, are hampered significantly. Exploring the revolution in digital technologies in orthopedics around the world, especially in response to COVID-19 is noticeable.
The internet allows us to get new brainstorming ideas to combat the crisis, ease of access to educational content, doctor-patients as well as doctor doctor relationships through a plethora of different social media, professional sites, video conferencing software, etc.
Which let us learn the new aspects of gaining and spreading knowledge to peers as well as young orthopedic surgeons. The Internet has played an important role in the orthopedic care of patients to combat the crisis as well as to run academics smoothly. To keep ourselves updated, many of us are also involved in virtual learning through various social media platforms.
What OREF India is Doing in Collaboration with Ortho TV During the Pandemic: Online Classes, how it was Launched
In view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the Orthopaedics Research and Education Foundation- India felt that postgraduate education should not be compromised. OREF India and the Ortho TV team decided that we could organize a formal series of webinars for postgraduate trainees. We started the first such class during the first surge of COVID 19 in India in the month of May 2020. Since then, it is regular and with time and practice the quality of webinar have been improving steadily. Dr. Ashok Shyam and Ortho TV are with us in our endeavors. We decided that every week there will be at least one class that would cover one topic that is important and difficult for orthopedic postgraduates.
How the Course Started, the History of OREF India, What we are Aiming for
All of us had put our own ideas and thoughts into it. Dr. John Mukhopadhaya had taken the initiative decided to take a class or chair a class in a week for his own DNB students. We were also worried because many postgraduate teaching courses in the country were on hold. Orthopedics Research and Education Foundation- India felt that postgraduate education should not be compromised and that we could help by making the classes for our DNB students available to a wider audience. Meanwhile, we got a call from Dr. Ashok Shyam asking how we should help the orthopedic surgeon in this crisis and Ortho TV became the platform for us to reach out to many more trainess.
We started our classes initially on zoom. Initially faced some technical problem and disturbances. This was later resolved by better understanding and keeping the persons in the room limited while everybody else could watch through Ortho TV platform. Questions could be asked and answered immediately during the live presentation. Ortho TV also shared the webinars with other social media in addition to their own platform to make it reachable to large number of interested orthopedic surgeon throughout the world. We tried our best to allott each of the important topics to the experts and kept enough time for the discussion part as had been doing in al Continuing Orthopaedic Education (COE) programs.
It is also interesting to know about the OREF-India COE program, which was one of the best things happening in the orthopedic world on annual basis after 1983 when there were not many such courses all over the world. In India, there was nothing more than one annual conference of the Indian Orthopedic association. At that time Padambhushan Prof B. Mukhopadhaya conceived the idea of establishing Orthopaedic research and education foundation - India in 1983. The main objective was to hold courses for young Orthopaedic surgeons who are working in the periphery and did not have the facilities to upgrade themselves. COE soon became one of the most popular orthopedic courses at that time held in India. Later the foundation started holding PG Instructional course for DNB students under the initiative of Professor Taneja in Indore which became very popular for both DNB and MS students.
After almost four decades of starting COE, there has been a necessity arising for the educational needs of postgraduates and young orthopedic surgeons during the covid crisis and as an organization, we felt it was our duty is to keep our motto to upgrade the orthopedic knowledge available to. During those who needed it. Delegates were encouraged to bring their problem cases and here the postgraduates are encouraged to ask questions on the online platform. classes aiming to update knowledge in decision-making and to understand those topics which are difficult to answer in the exam.
Every one of us has distinctive views and unique opinions which make this course more interesting and keep our mind wide open. Ensuring the class was easy to understand and by the enthusiastic expert faculty. OREF India is aiming to help the postgraduates, get the skills and surgical tips they deserve, update the knowledge in decision making and understand the topics in an easy way.
Limitations and Future Direction
We should also be aware of potential risks and legal implications of the internet like privacy violations and disclosure of sensitive patient information. The patients use the online ratings of the selection of doctors or hospitals; thus, it demands the current scenario to keep oneself updated and the legal aspects of the internet and learn to use these judiciously.
Biography
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest: Nil
Source of Support: Nil
Consent: The authors confirm that informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report
Declaration of patient consent: The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form, the patient's parents have given their consent for patient images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patient's parents understand that his names and initials will not be published and due efforts will be made to conceal their identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed.