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O6 Delivery of a national paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition virtual teaching programme during the Covid-19 pandemic
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  1. Kwang Yang Lee1,
  2. Neil McConnell2,
  3. Rulla Al-Araji3,
  4. Kavitha Jayaprakash4,
  5. Robert Hegarty5,
  6. Chayarani Kelgeri3,
  7. Theodoric Wong3,
  8. Sue Protheroe3
  1. 1Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
  2. 2Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow
  3. 3Birmingham Children’s Hospital
  4. 4Leeds Children’s Hospital
  5. 5King’s College Hospital

Abstract

Introduction At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, hospital educational activities were halted in order to focus on healthcare delivery and maintain social distancing. As a response to this disruption, BSPGHAN trainees set up the BSPGHAN Education Series, a twice- weekly virtual learning programme. The core objective of this programme was to deliver high quality paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition (PGHAN) teaching during the pandemic.

In this study, we analysed the attendances and feedback received from the education series, in order to guide future directions.

Methods We reviewed the Zoom meeting attendance logs and Survey Monkey feedback forms for the BSPGHAN Education Series from April 2020 to December 2020.

Results In nine months, a total of 55 talks were delivered by 43 speakers. 23 (41.8%) sessions were gastroenterology-themed, 25 (45.4%) were hepatology-themed and 7 (12.7%) were nutrition-themed.

Thirteen paediatrics gastroenterology units (12 in the UK and 1 in the United States) and all 3 UK tertiary paediatric liver centres contributed to the talks. The highest contributing centres were Birmingham Children’s Hospital (20 sessions), followed by King’s College Hospital (9 sessions) and Leeds Children’s Hospital (7 sessions).

Attendance logs and feedback forms were available for 53 sessions. A total of 2369 attendances were logged, with a median of 41 attendees per session (IQR 31–54). Attendees from 22 countries have participated in these sessions.

A total of 810 survey feedback forms were received, with a median of 14 forms received per session (IQR 10–18). 32% were filled in by PGHAN Grid trainees, 23% by consultants, 15% by clinical fellows. Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) comprised 6% of feedback returns. 54% of survey feedback respondents accessed the teaching sessions from home.

An average of 98% (95% CI 96.3–99.2) survey respondents strongly agreed/agreed that the sessions were relevant to their learning. 97% (95% CI 96–98.7) of survey respondents strongly agreed/agreed that the sessions delivered were of high quality.

Discussion The BSPGHAN series has been a positive initiative arising from the pandemic, providing access to high quality PGHAN education when local availability was paused, and giving a platform for the society internationally. Our report shows that the BSPGHAN Education Series has been well-received by attendees. The virtual sessions are more accessible compared to in-person teaching sessions, as evidenced by the high percentage of feedback respondents accessing the sessions from home.

Looking ahead, the BSPGHAN Education Group, set up in October 2020, will play a vital role in the further development of the Education Series. Sessions are recorded and made available to BSPGHAN members on the BSPGHAN website- further work may include creating online learning modules centred around these recordings. AHP involvement is an area for development- for 2021, we hope to include more topics that will be relevant to their interests.

Acknowledgments We thank all speakers for contributing to the teaching programme, and to all trainees who have devoted their time and efforts towards organising and running the teaching programme.

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