World Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (Dec 2022)

Evaluation of an interactive virtual surgical rotation during the COVID‐19 pandemic

  • Yasmeen M. Byrnes,
  • Neil N. Luu,
  • Ariel S. Frost,
  • Tiffany N. Chao,
  • Robert M. Brody,
  • Steven B. Cannady,
  • Karthik Rajasekaran,
  • Rabie M. Shanti,
  • Jason G. Newman

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wjorl.2021.04.001
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 4
pp. 302 – 307

Abstract

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Abstract Objective To evaluate medical student and attending surgeon experiences with a novel interactive virtual Otolaryngology ‐ Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) medical student elective during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Study Design A virtual OHNS elective was created, with three components: (1) interactive virtual operating room (OR) experience using live‐stream video‐conferencing, (2) telehealth clinic, (3) virtual didactics. Setting OHNS Department at the University of Pennsylvania (May 2020 to June 2020). Methods Six medical students from the University of Pennsylvania; five attending otolaryngologists. Two surveys were designed and distributed to participating medical students and attending surgeons. Surveys included 5‐point Likert scale items, with 1 indicating “not at all” and 5 indicating “very much so”. Results Response rate was 100% for both surveys. Students on average rated the educational value of the telehealth experience as 4.2 ± 1.2, and the virtual OR experience as 4.0 ± 0.6. Most students (n = 5, 83%) indicated that they had enough exposure to faculty they met on this rotation to ask for a letter of recommendation (LOR) for residency if needed, while attending surgeons had an average response of 3.0 ± 1.0 when asked how comfortable they would feel writing a LOR for a student they met through the rotation. A majority of students (n = 4, 67%) felt they connected enough with faculty during the rotation to ask for mentorship. Half the students (n = 5, 50%) indicated that the rotation allowed them to evaluate the department's culture either “extremely well” or “somewhat well”. Conclusions Overall, participating students described this innovative virtual surgical rotation as an educationally and professionally valuable experience. With the continued suspension of visiting student rotations due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, this virtual model may have continued relevance to medical education.

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