Resident experiences with virtual education during the COVID-19 crisis

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Resident experiences with virtual education during the COVID-19 crisis Via Journal of plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery : JPRAS J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2021 Jun 8:S1748-6815(21)00286-2. doi: 10.1016/j.bjps.2021.05.037. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Residency education has adapted to current social distancing recommendations by relying heavily on videoconferences. There is concern however, that this new paradigm may lead to over-saturation or burnout. METHODS: A 12-question survey investigating resident experiences with educational videoconferences was distributed to University of Washington plastic surgery residents. A modified Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to assess resident burnout from virtual conferences. Conference attendance and reasons for missing conferences were compared using paired two-tailed t-tests. RESULTS: A total of 24 residents were given the survey with 100% response rate. There was a significant decrease in the total number of weekly attended videoconferences (p<0.01) and in the number of attended educ ational videoconferences (p<0.01) over time. Reasons for absences included clinical duties (92% of respondents) followed by symptoms of burnout, including forgetfulness (67%) and feeling fatigued by videoconferencing lectures (54%), and to a lesser extent the belief that the lecture was not educational (25%). 79% of residents reported at least occasionally feeling emotionally drained from videoconferencing and 88% reported at least occasionally feeling burned out due to the number of videoconferencing activities. Despite declining attendance and burnout, 96% believe that videoconferences should continue after the end of quarantine but in a limited quantity. CONCLUSION: Videoconferences have become a valued means of resident education. The data suggests however that attendance has waned, largely due to what can be perceived as burnout. Residents remain interested in continuing educational videoconferences, although prioritizing quality over quantity will remain essential to prevent emotional fatigue and burnout. PMID:34148839 | DOI:10.1016/j.bjps.2021.05.037 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.