Document Type : Original Article
Authors
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID‑19 disease has resulted in an almost complete shutdown of all services
worldwide. Hospitals continued to provide emergency services and treatment for COVID‑19 disease.
Teaching hospitals like ours had another responsibility at hand; training of our surgical residents.
Not allowing this pandemic to take away months of training, we resorted to online virtual training
programs, for continuing academic activities. After having conducted thirty such sessions, we took
feedback from the participating students and faculty members to evaluate the usefulness of this new
initiative and identify the lacunae that needed to be addressed.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The initial twenty classes were held on the GoTo Meeting ® online
platform, whereas the last ten were conducted using the Google Meet application. A 20‑item
questionnaire covering four broad domains of general perception, feasibility, knowledge gained, and
drawbacks was circulated, and 19 responses were registered anonymously. Strength, weakness,
opportunity, and threat analysis was done based on the responses received.
RESULTS: About 89.5% of the participants believed that online classes were the ideal platform for
continuing education and 84.2% of the participants were overall satisfied with the whole exercise. The
Achilles’ heel was the availability of a good Internet connection, and the major lacunae were the poor
quality of video and audio transmission. Seventy‑four percent of the participants wanted to continue
online training in the future too, whereas 26% wanted to revert to the traditional face‑to‑face teaching.
CONCLUSION: Online virtual training classes are an effective and feasible alternative to traditional
teaching in times such as these, which demanded strict social distancing. It naturally lacked the
warmth and personal touch of the traditional teaching classes, but it allowed us to continue teaching
our residents and also prepare them to face the biggest menace of all times.
Keywords
et al. Uro‑oncology in times of COVID‑19: The available evidence
and recommendations in the Indian scenario. Indian J Cancer
2020;57:129‑38.
2. Available from: https://www.learnworlds.com/
webinar‑trends/. [Last accessed on 2020 Jun 01].
3. Available from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/
coronavirus‑education‑global‑covid19‑online‑digital‑learning/.
[Last accessed on 2020 Jun 01].
4. Available from: https://www. Mindtools. com/pages/article/
newTMC_05.htm. [Last accessed on 2020 Jun 01].
5. Bora GS, Narain TA, Sharma AP, Mavuduru RS, Devana SK,
Singh SK, et al. Robot‑assisted surgery in India: A SWOT analysis.
Indian J Urol 2020;36:1‑3.
6. MCI Vision 2015 Booklet. Medical Council of India. Available
from: http://www.mciindia.org/tools/announcement/MCI_
booklet.pdf. [Last accessed on 2020 Jun 01].
7. Zachariah A, Albright S, Grandin W, Anand A, Berman H,
Lee MY, et al. Adapting a US university e‑learning system
for an Indian medical school: Team building through student
ambassadors. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232252098_Adapting_a_US_university_
elearning_system_for_an_Indian_medical_school_team_
building_through_student_ambassadors/stats. [Last accessed
on 2020 Jun 01].
8. Outcomes for Graduates. Available from: https://www.gmc‑uk.
org/‑/media/documents/outcomes‑for‑graduates‑jul‑15‑1216_
pdf‑61408029.pdf. [Last accessed on 2020 Jun 01].
9. Ni AY. Comparing the effectiveness of classroom and online
learning: Teaching research methods. J Public Aff Educ
2013;19:199‑215.
)