Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin, 600 Highland Avenue, J4/703 CSC, Madison, WI, 53792, USA.
SAGES (Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Surg Endosc. 2021 May;35(5):1963-1969. doi: 10.1007/s00464-021-08470-6. Epub 2021 Apr 6.
Surgeons in practice have limited opportunities to learn new techniques and procedures. Traditionally, in-person hands-on courses have been the most common means for surgeons to gain exposure to new techniques and procedures. The COVID19 pandemic caused a cessation in these courses and left surgeons with limited opportunities to continue their professional development. Thus, SAGES elected to create an innovative hands-on course that could be completed at home in order to provide surgeons with opportunities to learn new procedures during the pandemic.
This course was initially planned to be taught as an in-person hands-on course utilizing the Acquisition of Data for Outcomes and Procedure Transfer(ADOPT) method . We identified a virtual telementoring platform, Proximie Ltd(London, UK), and a company that could create a model of an abdominal wall in order to perform a Transversus Abdominis Release, KindHeart™(Chapel Hill, NC, USA). The course consisted of pre-course lectures and videos to be reviewed by participants, a pre-course call to set learning goals, the hands-on telementoring session from home, and monthly webinars for a year.
The ADOPT hands-on hernia course at home was successfully completed on October 23rd of 2020. All participants and faculty were successfully able to set up their model and utilize the telementoring platform, but 15% required assistance. Post course-surveys showed that participants felt that the course was successful in meeting their educational goals and felt similar to prior in-person courses.
SAGES was successfully able to transition and in-person hands-on course to a virtual at-home format. This innovative approach to continuing professional development will be necessary during the times of the COVID19 pandemic, but may be a helpful option for rural surgeons and others with travel restrictions in the future to continue their professional development without the need to travel away from their practice.
执业外科医生获得新技术和手术的机会有限。传统上，面对面的实践课程一直是外科医生接触新技术和手术的最常见方式。COVID19 大流行导致这些课程停止，外科医生获得专业发展的机会有限。因此，SAGES 决定创建一个创新的实践课程，以便在家中完成，以便在大流行期间为外科医生提供学习新手术的机会。
本课程最初计划作为使用获取数据进行结果和程序转移（ADOPT）方法的面对面实践课程进行教授。我们确定了一个虚拟远程医疗平台 Proximie Ltd（英国伦敦），以及一家可以创建腹壁模型以进行腹横肌释放的公司，KindHeart™（美国北卡罗来纳州查珀尔希尔）。该课程包括参与者预先观看的讲座和视频，预先设定学习目标的电话会议，在家中进行的实践远程医疗会议，以及为期一年的每月网络研讨会。
2020 年 10 月 23 日成功完成了在家中的 ADOPT 疝实践课程。所有参与者和教师都成功地设置了他们的模型并使用了远程医疗平台，但有 15%的人需要帮助。课后调查显示，参与者认为该课程成功地满足了他们的教育目标，并感觉与之前的面对面课程相似。
SAGES 成功地将面对面的实践课程转变为虚拟的家庭模式。这种继续专业发展的创新方法在 COVID19 大流行期间是必要的，但对于农村外科医生和其他有旅行限制的人来说，将来可能是一个有用的选择，他们无需离开实践即可继续专业发展。
