Impact of Covid-19 on urogenital online learning through WeChat in China

Abstract

Background To evaluate the significance of social media and the impacts of Covid-19 on urogenital continuing education in China through WeChat. Methods Backend database from a Chinese urological online learning platform on account of WeChat named Jiujing before and during Covid-19 pandemic were compared and analyzed. An online questionnaire investigation containing 482 respondents was carried out to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 on urological online learning through WeChat. Results During the epidemic of Covid-19, the amounts of national subscribers in Jiujing platform increased by 26.24%, while the constituent ratio of subscribers’ quantity from Hubei province decreased although there were 189 new subscribers, and only surgery video section experienced increased constituent ratio of subscribers’ concerns. Online investigation indicated that most respondents experienced whittled offline learning opportunities and boosted online learning demands during Covid-19 pandemic as online learning was more efficiency, and these attitudes were associated with qualifications of the respondents. Surgery videos and academic lectures were the most popular sections. Preferences of the respondents were determined by gender, title, degree and affiliation hierarchy. Conclusions Even though the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the patterns of online medical education to a certain degree, continuing learning through social media like WeChat is essential and beneficial for urologists. Positional title, affiliation hierarchy and education background are supposed to impact their attitudes towards online learning.