Abstract

Introduction: Academic activity during the past 2 years has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of CRAMsurg (an educational charity) was to build a virtual ‘community of practice’ aimed to develop critical appraisal and methodology skills. 

Methods: Virtual journal club and educational sessions were started using video conferencing back in 2020. Trainees meet monthly online and deliver a presentation and critical appraisal of one paper, followed by a short tutorial on research methodology and discussion. An online e-learning platform (Moodle) is used for pre presentation preparation, pre and post presentation formative MCQs and feedback for presenting trainees. Presenters are also tasked to write a letter to the editor relating to the paper they critiqued. All sessions are recorded and disseminated via a dedicated website, YouTube, Spotify, iTunes and Google podcasts.

Results: At the time of submission, there have been a total of 24 CRAMsurg sessions. The average number of attendees was 13.5 (6-34). The total number of YouTube views was 1591 (mean 71.3 per episode, range 6-112). A total of 14 letters to the editor were published as a result of the online journal club sessions. The feedback for both live sessions and trainees preparation sessions was positive (average of 4.9/5 for 68 reviews). The website (www.cramsurg.org) recorded an average of 78 single users per month.

Conclusions: COVID-19 is still causing disruption to surgical education across the globe. The use of online platforms can successfully bring trainees together and meet learning needs of trainees.

Additional Information

This presentation was given at the SES 2022 online conference, January 2022.