Enhancing rheumatology education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, rheumatology educational programs around the world, face the daunting challenge of maintaining education for their trainees. Reduced in-person clinic exposures and social distancing requirements have significantly affected trainee education. Similar to programs around the USA, in early March 2020, our program was faced with an urgent need to pivot both our clinical and educational programs to virtual platforms. Within these limitations, we harnessed innovative educational models and restructured our curriculum to ensure adequate clinical and didactic exposure. We divided trainee's clinical rotations into four blocks, which include Inpatient consult service, Outpatient in-person and procedure clinics, Telehealth Clinics and Research/Elective week. By assigning specific rotations, we were able to ensure fellows were seeing adequate numbers of patients both through telemedicine and inperson while ensuring we complied with social distancing requirements. We further were able to ensure that trainee hands-on procedure training was not compromised. Acknowledging challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and learner engagement in virtual environment, we designed an innovative educational portfolio. Utilizing synchronous and asynchronous learning methods, we have developed multiple complementary educational initiatives including: Rocket Rheumatology, Board Games, At the Elbow, Radiology Reading Rheum, Ultrasound Buddies, The History Rheum, and Rapid-Fire Journal Club. Virtual learning methods will become a cornerstone of medical education moving forwards. The GW Division of Rheumatology has rapidly incorporated innovative educational tools into our curriculum. Our approach will help Rheumatology training programs across the globe enhance rheumatology training.

Academic publication activities and perspectives of rheumatology practitioners in the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Apart from the literature follow-up, papers about how rheumatology education should be conducted during the pandemic have also been reported. 20,24,25 These include inpatient consultation service, outpatient procedures, telehealth clinics, virtual learning programs, and social media programs. 20,24,25 The potential limitations of this study were time-dependent results, the relatively limited respondent number, and the absence of the number of papers published before the pandemic.…”

“…20,24,25 These include inpatient consultation service, outpatient procedures, telehealth clinics, virtual learning programs, and social media programs. 20,24,25 The potential limitations of this study were time-dependent results, the relatively limited respondent number, and the absence of the number of papers published before the pandemic. These results described the publication activities and perspectives of rheumatology practitioners from the onset of the pandemic to December 2021.…”

COVID-19 from a rheumatology perspective: bibliometric and altmetric analysis

“…It significantly affected the educational sphere. Rheumatology trainees could not adhere fully to the traditional formal curriculum, being restricted in traditional face-to-face interactions with patients [79]. However, maintaining the quality of training in rheumatology as a guarantee of supporting the provision of qualified medical care is an essential need.…”

“…However, maintaining the quality of training in rheumatology as a guarantee of supporting the provision of qualified medical care is an essential need. Thus, to adapt to the strict COVID-19 restrictions, educational institutions have switched towards diverse online opportunities and hybrid learning programs [79,80]. We have indicated a series of articles discussing the challenges and progress of rheumatology training during COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…We have indicated a series of articles discussing the challenges and progress of rheumatology training during COVID-19 pandemic. Remote learning allows trainees to acquire the necessary skills in working with telemedicine, use for training social networks, and a lot of visual material [79][80][81].…”