Master Series Microsurgery for Residents: Results from a Comprehensive Survey of a Multitudinous Online Course during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective Since COVID-19 emerged, it has significantly affected medical education. Surgical training has been blocked and the learning curve flattened. However, COVID-19 led to the outbreak of multitudinous online courses. Master series: microsurgery for residents (MSMR) has been the most extensive and accessible online nonfee course transmitted so far regarding reconstructive microsurgery. The primary aim of this study was to assess the impact of the MSMR in the surgical community as an international educational tool during pandemic confinement. Patients and Methods A retrospective, observational, analytic, and transversal study was designed. An 11-item survey was sent to all the 1,513 attendees who completed at least 60% of course attendance during 2 days. Descriptive and analytic statistics were performed. The impact was measured by considering answers to questions 6 to 9 and 11 (course usefulness, microsurgery interest increase, desire to pursue a microsurgical career, attendance to in-person conferences, and overall score, respectively). Results A total of 1,111 (73.4%) of eligible subjects were included. In total, 55.8% were plastic surgery residents. After the course, 98.9% would pursue a career in reconstructive microsurgery, and 45% would stop attending in-person conferences. The overall score of the event was 9.06 ± 0.9 (from 0 to 10) regardless of the current training status. Conclusion The MSMR was a high impact course and has established a paradigm shift that will lead to an evolution in plastic surgery learning.

The Preferred Reconstructive Choice for a Lower Third Tibial Exposure Defect: An Online Survey of 356 Microsurgeons

“…3, Online networks play an ever-growing role in surgery: they can influence research, and funding trends, clinical practice, and medical education as seen with the rise of online seminar during the Corona Virus pandemic. 4,5 Furthermore, the real-time communication available on social media is an excellent platform for inter-professional interaction. 6,7 Despite the easy access to experts' opinions and research, and the importance of understanding the thought process of different surgeons around the world, there is still a paucity of research that uses social media as a tool to gather such information.…”

Why Should Face-to-Face Meetings Need to Resume?

“…The advantages of virtual learning tools have been previously acknowledged: the access to information is available across geographic barriers, teaching is delivered by experts from around the world, educators and learners alike demonstrate unprecedented flexibility; didactic lectures are frequently recorded to accommodate those unable to attend, and learning objectives are often clearly defined. [1][2][3][4] It is well known that Medical Associations must meet periodically in congresses. If we go to the Latin origin of the word Association, it means to unite people, collaborate on a specific topic, act.…”

“…The advantages of virtual learning tools have been previously acknowledged: the access to information is available across geographic barriers, teaching is delivered by experts from around the world, educators and learners alike demonstrate unprecedented flexibility; didactic lectures are frequently recorded to accommodate those unable to attend, and learning objectives are often clearly defined. 1 2 3 4 …”

International Microsurgery Club Webinar Series—Bridging the Knowledge Gap during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The increased success in the IMC webinar series precipitated other societies to follow the trend of online webinars. [11][12][13][14] IMC became a group with educational webinars and informative posts on upcoming topics/events broadcasted by other societies. As of September 2020, IMC has allied with many other societies to create the "International Microsurgery Webinar League" to pool the resources and links into a single place (►Table 1).…”