Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9570
ISSN: 2155-9570
Tarannum Shakeel
SGRRâ??Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, India
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Clin Exp Ophthalmol
Purpose: To analyze the impact of ophthalmic webinars on the resident’s learning experience during the COVID-19 pandemic (CP) in India. Methods: This cross-sectional nationwide study was carried out for 1 month during CP and included a total of 382 Indian ophthalmic residents. A self structured questionnaire was sent through various social media platforms to analyze the impact of CP on post graduate learning in ophthalmology. Results: Residents expressed a decline in their clinical exposure (74%; 220), thesis work (58%; 218), and acquisition of the knowledge and skills (42.5%; 161) during CP. Benefits of webinars as perceived by the residents included gain in additional knowledge (77%; 286), feedback on queries (56%; 209), access to multiple speakers (50%; 191), and topics (30%; 110). Nearly 75% (291) of residents endorsed webinars as good to very good academic tool and 54% (202) preferred to continue attending webinars in the post-CP phase. However, connectivity/download/ data issues (54%; 200) followed by loss of personal touch (53%; 188), lengthy or irrelevant topic (37%; 134) and poor transmission quality (33%; 121) were major deterrents against the webinar. Conclusion: The current study generated overall mixed responses from the ophthalmic postgraduate residents in favor of webinars. In the present format, webinars bear enormous potentials to supplement the traditional learning tools by providing uninterrupted learning experiences. The need of the hour is to address the associated pedagogical and other deterrent issues, as pointed out in this study.
Dr. Tarannum Shakeel is a Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, SGRRâ??Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Patel Nagar, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.