1Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
2Department of Neurological Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Neurosurg Focus. 2020 Dec;49(6):E18. doi: 10.3171/2020.9.FOCUS20634.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused dramatic changes in medical education. Social distancing policies have resulted in the rapid adoption of virtual learning (VL) by neurosurgeons as a method to exchange knowledge, but it has been met with variable acceptance. The authors surveyed neurosurgeons from around the world regarding their opinions about VL and how they see the future of neurosurgical conferences.
The authors conducted a global online survey assessing the experience of neurosurgeons and trainees with VL activities. They also questioned respondents about how they see the future of on-site conferences and scientific meetings. They analyzed responses against demographic data, regions in which the respondents practice, and socioeconomic factors by using frequency histograms and multivariate logistic regression models.
Eight hundred ninety-one responses from 96 countries were received. There has been an increase in VL activities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most respondents perceive this type of learning as positive. Respondents from lower-income nations and regions such as Europe and Central Asia were more receptive to these changes and wanted to see further movement of educational activities (conferences and scientific meetings) into a VL format. The latter desire may be driven by financial savings from not traveling. Most queried neurosurgeons indicated that virtual events are likely to partially replace on-site events.
The pandemic has improved perceptions of VL, and despite its limitations, VL has been well received by the majority of neurosurgeons. Lower-income nations in particular are embracing this technology. VL is still evolving, but its integration with traditional in-person meetings seems inevitable.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行导致医学教育发生了巨大变化。由于社交距离政策，神经外科医生迅速采用虚拟学习（VL）作为交流知识的方法，但这种方法的接受程度不一。作者对来自世界各地的神经外科医生进行了调查，了解他们对 VL 的看法，以及他们如何看待神经外科学术会议的未来。
作者进行了一项全球在线调查，评估神经外科医生和受训者对 VL 活动的经验，还询问了受访者对现场会议和科学会议未来的看法。他们通过使用频率直方图和多变量逻辑回归模型，根据人口统计学数据、受访者执业地区以及社会经济因素来分析这些回复。
共收到来自 96 个国家的 891 份回复。自 COVID-19 大流行开始以来，VL 活动有所增加。大多数受访者认为这种学习方式是积极的。来自低收入国家和地区的受访者，如欧洲和中亚，对这些变化更易接受，并希望看到更多的教育活动（会议和科学会议）转向 VL 形式。这种愿望可能是由于不旅行带来的经济节省。大多数接受调查的神经外科医生表示，虚拟活动可能会部分替代现场活动。
大流行提高了对 VL 的认识，尽管存在局限性，但 VL 仍受到大多数神经外科医生的欢迎。特别是低收入国家正在接受这项技术。VL 仍在发展中，但它与传统的面对面会议相结合似乎是不可避免的。
