Vikas Kumar, MD, CHSE
Associate Professor
Augusta University Medical Center
Augusta, Georgia
Disclosure information not submitted.
Title: Effectiveness of virtual versus in-person FCCS training course - a comparative study
Introduction: Medical education was significantly affected by pandemic restrictions; however, embracing advances in video conferencing has minimized interruptions to learning. This study compares the FCCS workshop's effectiveness conducted virtually and in person.
Methods: A single academic institution offered three virtual courses under pandemic restrictions and one in-person course after restrictions were eased. The virtual course was conducted over two days, whereas the in-person course was a single-day program; both covered six skills stations provided by the SCCM. We retrospectively compared the responses of the feedback surveys administered at the end of each session. Survey questions assessed the usefulness, content, and delivery of various stations, and the most and least valuable features of the stations using a 5-point Likert scale. The effectiveness of training in both approaches was compared.
Results: We had 78 virtual and 39 in-person participants. There was a range of participants including resident physicians, faculty, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, and critical care fellows. Virtual participants were from Augusta, Ghana, and Nigeria. Results were similar between groups, with participants expressing appreciation for the interactive cases and scenarios relevant to their practices. The most striking difference between the two approaches was that the virtual attendees desired a more hands-on experience for mechanical ventilation. Utilizing the 2-tailed Student T-test, there was a significant difference between virtual and in-person regarding the content of mechanical ventilation with P< 0.049, and delivery of mechanical ventilation had a significant difference with P< 0.043. Alpha < 0.05 as the threshold. Further, screen fatigue was very significant during the virtual workshop despite its having been conducted over two days.
Conclusion: It appears that with meticulous planning and implementation, both virtual and in-person FCCS workshops can be done effectively, although each has its own pros and cons. With the need to train more health care providers, virtual workshops have the advantages of lower time and cost and improving the quality of outreach. We recommend hybrid training to facilitate the teaching both locally and internationally.