key: cord-0011588-6bzoyr46
authors: Reissis, Dimitris; Joji, Nikita; Campbell, Ewan; Sharma, Vikram P.; Staruch, Robert M.T.; Baker, Benjamin G.
title: PLASTA National Webinar Series: A developing model for remote surgical education
date: 2020-05-18
journal: J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg
DOI: 10.1016/j.bjps.2020.05.008
sha: 9c296f7f228d2dfbf4bdf0af8b85e92bd758287b
doc_id: 11588
cord_uid: 6bzoyr46

nan

None Key words:

Webinar, remote learning, surgical education, plastic surgery 3 Dear Sir/Madam, The increasing popularity of web-based learning in plastic surgery over the last 5 years has been driven by convenience, cost, use of portable devices, and the rise of remote communication platforms (1, 2) . The delivery of regional plastic surgery teaching programmes in the UK is variable ( We appointed a webinar co-ordination team in January 2020 to manage and develop the webinar series. We have found that the presence of a facilitator is essential to introduce the speaker, lead the Q&A session by eliciting questions and encouraging interaction, and ensure time-keeping.

Thirteen webinars have been held to date ( Table 1 ). The mean number of registrants per webinar is 175 (range:58-469), with 101 (range:41-373) attending live. These attendance rates were initially consistent between 41-73 attendees, with a significant recent increase to between 162-373 per webinar over the last 2 months. Participants are of all training grades ranging from medical students to Consultants, with ST5-6 representing the largest group, potentially as an adjunct to their concurrent exam preparation. Participants represent every training region in the UK (Figure 2 ), in addition to increasing numbers of international trainees.

The webinar series has received positive feedback for quality of content, educational value, and relevance with a mean overall rating of 93/100. Trainees have consistently highlighted the utility of the Q&A session. When asked about webinar logistics, 90% opt for email as their preferred method of contact, 54% favour webinars on Tuesday evenings and 64% favour a start time of 7pm. 73% of 5 participants suggest an ideal webinar duration of 45-60 minutes whilst 16% prefer 60-90 mins. Over 98% of attendees state they benefit from access to recordings.

The webinar format provides unparalleled accessibility for participants, unrestricted by location, venue requirements or cost. The webinars cost the association less than £1/trainee/webinar to facilitate, which is advantageous in the current era of growing training costs and diminishing study leave budgets. In addition, trainees have access to specific teaching in areas of the FRCS(Plast) syllabus that might not be experienced in their region, for example Craniofacial and Hypospadias.

We are currently building working collaborations with the International Confederation of Plastic Surgery Societies (ICOPLAST) and the Pulvertaft Hand Centre, to expand the webinar series further. We also work closely with the BAPRAS Education Committee to theme our webinars around the BAPRAS Advanced Educational Course Series, and are developing our repertoire of webinars to support junior trainees in 'preparation for ST3' and managing plastic surgery cases whilst on call.

The unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, with inevitable loss of plastic surgery training opportunities, has resulted in an increasing demand for remote training. This is supported by the significantly increased attendance at our most recent webinars, which we have responded to by increasing the frequency of webinars to weekly, to provide trainees with ongoing learning opportunities in the absence of normal clinical practice throughout the pandemic. 6 The PLASTA Webinar series is proving a reliable, cost-efficient and convenient learning tool that can enhance surgical training by engaging trainees through remote, yet collaborative, learning. We recommend use of this model to other surgical training programmes to supplement, but not replace, clinical training and face-to-face learning opportunities.

Smartphones and the plastic surgeon

The Rise of Technology in Plastic Surgery Education: Is the Textbook Dead on Arrival (DOA)?

Unpublished results of the Plastic Surgery National Training Survey

Plastic Surgery Curriculum

Ten simple rules for organizing a webinar series

The PLASTA team would like to sincerely thank the following Consultants for giving their time to teach and deliver webinars as part of our national series: Mr Simon Committee and its Chair, Dean Boyce, for supporting this initiative throughout.