Survey of Social Media Use for Surgical Education During Covid-19

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the use of social media platforms by medical students, surgical trainees, and practicing surgeons for surgical education during the Covid-19 pandemic.Methods: An online, 15-question survey was developed and posted on Facebook and WhatsApp closed surgeon groups.Results: The online survey was completed by 219 participants from South America (87%), North America (7%), Europe (5%), Central America, and Asia. Respondents included medical students (6.4%), surgical residents/fellows (24.2%), and practicing surgeons (69.4%). The most common age group was 35-44 years. When asked which social media platforms they preferred, the video sharing site YouTube (33.3%), the messaging app WhatsApp (21%), and "other" (including videoconferencing sites) (22.3%) were most popular. Respondents reported using social media for surgical education either daily (38.4%) or weekly (45.2%), for an average of 1-5 hours/week. Most (85%) opined that surgical conferences that were cancelled during the pandemic should be made available online, with live discussions. Conclusion:Social media use for surgical education during Covid-19 appears to be increasing and evolving.

Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program Social Media Presence During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Again similar to our results, Goshtasbi et al reported that larger residency programs more often had Instagram accounts and had more followers/posts, which may be due to the need to recruit more residents and increased interest in larger programs with more positions 8 . These accounts are also windows into the more intangible aspects of residency, including resident life, program culture, research opportunities, and social justice initiatives 23 , 24 .…”

Reliability and Educational Value of YouTube Videos of Complete Meso-Colic Excision With Right Hemicolectomy in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Residents have to work in the pandemic clinics rather than their clinics due to the shortage of consultants and surgical teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The negative impact on global healthcare systems of the closure of academic institutions due to the pandemic should not be underestimated [ 14 ]. Considering all the above, the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen to have had an enormous impact on the quantity and quality of training, for both medical and surgical residents, and this problem can be more clearly understood from the difficulties encountered when medical students and residents graduate without adequate training and must serve at the forefront of the field [ 15 ].…”

Educational opportunities for postgraduate medical trainees during the COVID-19 pandemic: deriving value from old, new and emerging ways of learning

“…Many COVID-19 themed WhatsApp groups have been formed among clinical teams, enabling trainees to share resources, guidelines, pertinent research articles and clinical experiences. 16 Similarly Twitter has provided a dynamic forum for signposting to COVID-19 resources and sharing knowledge. 17 WhatsApp groups between team members have also provided an important support network for trainees.…”