key: cord-0908171-3kj5ibvp
authors: Stairs, Jocelyn; Smith, Anita
title: A Novel, Asynchronous Urogynaecology Online Curriculum Developed in Response to COVID-19: Is There an Unexpected Upside to Remote Learning Platforms?
date: 2021-11-15
journal: J Obstet Gynaecol Can
DOI: 10.1016/j.jogc.2021.08.004
sha: 026484146ecdfb942d927d6bb56db5386d9825d6
doc_id: 908171
cord_uid: 3kj5ibvp

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A Novel, Asynchronous Urogynaecology Online Curriculum Developed in Response to COVID-19: Is There an Unexpected Upside to Remote Learning Platforms?

C OVID-19 posed unprecedented challenges to medical education, including a shift in the delivery of didactic teaching to remote learning platforms. This disrupted established models of postgraduate education. However, this shift may have produced an unintended upside by facilitating the development of asynchronous curriculum resources.

Prior research on asynchronous learning in medical education suggested that learners make use of a variety of unvetted, asynchronous resources to supplement their learning. 1,2 However, these may not cover the required curriculum, may not represent local best practice, and may be of variable quality. 3 We leveraged remote learning platform features to create an evidence-based, asynchronous curriculum for obstetrics and gynaecology residents that covers core topics in urogynaecology. This created a "flipped classroom" model that reserved limited in-person contact time for clarification and discussion. The aim of this cross-sectional pilot study was to evaluate resident perceptions of this curriculum.

We identified topic areas using the Royal College Entrustable Professional Activities for obstetrics and gynaecology and prior rotation feedback from residents. The urogynaecology faculty and fellow reviewed proposed module topics and agreed on final topics by consensus ( Figure) . We prepared a 1 hour, evidence-based lecture for each module topic and delivered them to residents on urogynaecology core rotation using a remote learning platform (Zoom Video Communications Inc.; https://zoom.us) during June 2020. We recorded these lectures using the remote learning platform's recording function, and recordings were uploaded to the university's curriculum delivery platform (Brightspace, D2L Corporation; https://www.d2l. com), along with an annotated collection of resources related to the topic, including surgical tutorials, review articles, and society guidelines. We gave residents who were on urogynaecology rotation or preparing for the Royal College Specialty Examination in Obstetrics and Gynaecology during the 2020−2021 academic year access to the asynchronous teaching modules via the curriculum delivery platform. We also scheduled brief, synchronous sessions for concept review around clinical activities.

We invited all residents who were given access to the modules to participate in a cross-sectional survey to determine residents' perceptions of this initiative and ways in which it could be improved (REB approval no. 1026882). The survey was delivered via email by a research assistant, and electronic responses were collected anonymously (online Appendix). Eight residents responded to the survey (eight of nine eligible residents; 89% response rate). All eight residents found the modules to be helpful or very helpful to their learning on their urogynaecology rotation. All five residents who sat the Royal College Specialty Examination during the 2020−2021 academic year found the modules to be helpful to their preparation for the exam. Most residents (six of eight; 75%) preferred the asynchronous curriculum delivery to live didactic sessions.

This initiative represents a didactic teaching supplement that could easily be compiled by leveraging both the recording feature of remote teaching platforms to record lectures that are already being delivered to residents and the existing institutional curriculum delivery platforms. The initiative provided residents with a library of resources that are evidence based, relevant to resident learning objectives, and applicable to local context, and residents viewed these resources favourably. By creating a flipped classroom model, we were able to adapt to COVID-19 restrictions and reserve limited inperson teaching for problem solving and application of concepts.

A future study will examine the impact of this initiative on knowledge acquisition. There is also an opportunity for future collaboration that focuses on the development of wider, interdepartmental resource libraries to promote scientifically accurate, relevant content to support resident education and ensure access for all residents across Canada.

Supplementary material related to this article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogc.2021.08.004.

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