Vascular e-Learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: the EL-COVID survey

Patelis, Nikolaos; Bisdas, Theodosios; Jing, Zaiping; Feng, Jiaxuan; Trenner, Matthias; Nugroho, Nyityasmono; Reis, Paulo Eduardo; Elkouri, Stephane; Lecis, Alexandre; Karam, Lamisse; Roux, Dirk Le; Ionac, Mihai; Berczeli, Marton; Jongkind, Vincent; Yeung, Kak Khee; Katsargyris, Athanasios; Avgerinos, Efthymios; Moris, Demetrios; Choong, Andrew; Ng, Jun Jie; Cvjetko, Ivan; Antoniou, George; Ghibu, Phil; Svetlikov, Alexei; Pedrajas, Fernando Gallardo; Ebben, Harm; Stepak, Hubert; Chornuy, Andrii; Kostiv, Sviatoslav; Ancetti, Stefano; Tadayon, Niki; Mekkar, Akli; Magnitskiy, Leonid; Fidalgo-Domingos, Liliana; Matheiken, Sean; Rosello, Eduardo Sarutte; Isik, Arda; Kirkilesis, Georgios; Kakavia, Kyriaki; Georgopoulos, Sotirios

BACKGROUND: The COrona Virus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has radically changed the possibilities for vascular surgeons and trainees to exchange knowledge and experience. The aim of the present survey is to inventorise the e-learning needs of vascular surgeons and trainees as well as the strengths and weaknesses of vascular e-Learning. METHODS: An online survey consisting of 18 questions was created in English, with a separate bilingual English-Mandarin version. The survey was dispersed to vascular surgeons and trainees worldwide through social media and via direct messaging from June 15th to October 15th 2020. RESULTS: 856 records from 84 different countries could be included. Most participants attended several online activities (>4: n=461, 54%; 2-4: n=300, 35%; 1: n=95, 11%) and evaluated online activities as positive or very positive (84.7%). In deciding upon participation, the topic of the activity was most important (n=440, 51.4%), followed by the reputation of the presenter or the panel (n=178, 20.8%), but not necessarily receiving accreditation or certification (n=52, 6.1%). The survey identified several shortcomings in vascular e-Learning during the pandemic: limited possibility to attend due to lack of time and increased workload (n=432, 50.5%), no protected/allocated time (n=488, 57%) and no accreditation or certification, while technical shortcomings were only a minor problem (n=25, 2.9%). CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic vascular e-Learning has been used frequently and was appreciated by vascular professionals from around the globe. The survey identified strengths and weaknesses in current e-Learning that can be used to further improve online learning in vascular surgery.