Advances in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (Apr 2022)
Use of a webinar series to improve exposure to oral & maxillofacial surgery during a global pandemic
Abstract
Exposure to OMFS at undergraduate level is rare. Students seeking such exposure often struggle to access important information that would help them decide about a future career in OMFS. The COVID-19 pandemic has made access to such information, for example career workshops and specialty conferences, more difficult. This paper discusses our experiences of setting up an online webinar series aimed at providing practical advice for undergraduates and early trainees interested in the field of OMFS. Clinicians were approached via email and/or social media to deliver a structured programme of key advice and guidance about OMFS. Individual undergraduate and surgical societies were emailed in order to advertise the series which included talks such as ‘Week in the Life’, ‘Subspecialties’ and ‘Portfolio Building’. An interactive poster containing a Quick Response code was circulated to allow a streamlined registration process. The seminars were held via Zoom videoconferencing software and feedback collated via Typeform using a Likert-scale questionnaire. On average, the webinars were 60 minutes long and each attracted 53 attendees. The series attracted 183 unique participants. The majority of attendees were dental students and 85% were based in the UK. Overall, 94% felt their knowledge of the specialty had improved and 86% were more likely to consider pursuing OMFS as a career as result of the series. This paper shows that videoconferencing is a useful modality to engage with junior trainees and has a wide reach. These benefits must be harnessed going forward to improve access and exposure to OMFS in early trainees.
