Medical Education in a Post COVID-19 era – remote teaching methods for cardiovascular knowledge and skills

Abstract

Introduction As traditional clinical teaching faces major obstacles during the COVID-19 pandemic, medical educators look toward remote teaching methods to provide solutions to allow continuation of teaching. Remote methods, teaching delivered other than face-to-face, align with the transformation seen within pedagogy over the last 20 years. Aim The aim of this scoping review was to i) identify existing teaching methods available to remotely teach cardiovascular knowledge or skills and ii) identify if they have been evaluated. Methods A scoping review of the literature was undertaken to synthesise available evidence and examine remote teaching methods for application to undergraduate medical education. Results Forty-two articles were identified which presented remote teaching methods using either teaching based online, computer-programs, digital resources, mobile-phone technology, podcasts, serious gaming, social media or resources to aid self-directed learning. Although results were heterogenous, they gave an indication of the method's usefulness. However, evaluations were not consistent and if they were, would have strengthened the value of the findings. Conclusion Various remote teaching methods are available to replace face-to-face cardiovascular teaching where this is not possible. Evidence for effectiveness and engagement of individual platforms are variable. Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, medical educators should prioritise ongoing evaluation of remote teaching methods and share best practice.

Keywords

• Cardiovascular
• undergraduate
• remote teaching
• curriculum planning