SPECIAL COVID-19 ISSUE Conferencing During COVID-19: Five Tips for Creating an Engaging Virtual Didactics Experience By Kimberly Bambach MD, and Andrew King, MD on behalf of the SAEM Education Committee COVID-19 has brought traditional, inperson didactic sessions to a halt as we seek to protect each other by social distancing. Many residencies have transitioned to a virtual model for weekly didactic conferences, yet adapting to this new format can be disorienting for both educators and learners. Social distancing is necessary to flatten the pandemic curve, but COVID-19 will not stop us from continuing to learn and develop professionally in emergency medicine. The following tips will help ease the transition to virtual didactics so that you can create an engaging learning environment despite the necessary physical distance.
SAEM PULSE | MAY-JUNE 2020 | SPECIAL COVID-19 ISSUE
Choose a Platform to Fit Your Needs
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There are multiple platforms that you can use to host video conferences, all with unique features. For weekly virtual didactics at our institution, we use Zoom because it allows for breakout sessions and has an intuitive design. Be mindful that none of these platforms are HIPAA compliant unless this has been explicitly arranged by your institution, so avoid discussion of specific patient encounters.
Free version Participant #
“Continuing to prioritize education is another way we can fight the COVID-19 pandemic together from behind the front lines.” General Tips on Video Conferencing Etiquette To optimize audio quality, you can choose a quiet room, wear earbuds or headphones to decrease echoes, and mute yourself, unless you are speaking, to decrease ambient noise. To optimize video quality, take a few moments before the session begins to adjust your lighting and consider what may be in the background.
FOAM is Your Friend
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to produce high-quality educational content. Free Open Access Medical education (FOAM) resources can provide you with curated conference content that is ready to implement, giving you more time to focus on teaching.
Zoom
Cisco Web Ex
Yes
Yes
Up to 100 participants with 40 minutes per free call, Up to 1000 participants depending on the paid plan and call duration up to 24 hours
Foundations of Emergency Medicine (FoEM). Foundations I-III courses provide a guided, independent review of core EM content for learners at every level. Virtual class time can then be used for case-based, small or large group discussion in a flipped classroom model. EKG and Frameworks courses are also part of the FoEM curriculum family. They have created new guidelines to help you implement these courses virtually and by simply completing an interest form you will gain full access to the Foundations website including leadership resources. Emergency Medicine Fundamentals. Get back to the fundamentals of EM with this innovative course based on true emergencies, chief complaints, and essential skills. Download the free
Up to 100 participants with no time limit, Up to 200 participants with no time limit on paid plans
Google Hangouts Meet No; Now available for free if you are already a G suite customer (until July 1st) Up to 250 participants per call
Screen sharing
Yes
Yes
Yes
Whiteboard
Yes
Yes
Yes
Chat feature Dial in by phone Record
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes, with paid plans
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes with paid plans
Yes, but additional license required
Special features
Intuitive design, breakout groups, set a virtual background (pretend you’re on the beach)
Easy integration with Microsoft exchange
Easy integration with Gmail and Google Calendar, offers livestreaming to up to 100,000 participants
Potential drawbacks
Security issues, not HIPAA compliant unless you pay for this feature, Cost
Less intuitive design, not HIPAA compliant unless you have a business plan, Cost
Not HIPAA compliant unless you have a business plan, Cost