A Novel Approach to Support New Foundation Doctor Transition

Abstract

Background It is a long-standing problem that medical students feel unprepared for practice following graduation. Disruptions to final year education during the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated this situation. Methods An online webinar series called “FY1 Survival Guide” was designed to cover the topics of the hidden curriculum. New medical graduates from the globe were invited to attend. An online survey was conducted afterwards in order to assess the improvement in confidence levels and the effectiveness of web-based teaching. Results 76 responses were included. 85.5% showed an increase in preparedness after attending the series. 96.1% revealed the topics were not covered in medical school. Over half (55.3%) favoured online teaching in general. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that online teaching is tantamount to face-to-face training. It could be the prospective new practice of foundation doctor training, yet further research should be conducted on exploring how to standardise and promote this pedagogy.