T. J. Vreeland1, D. A. Vicente1, R. W. Day1, C. J. Allen1, T. E. Newhook1, E. Grubbs1, B. Bednarski1 1University Of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center,Surgical Oncology,Houston, TX, USA
Introduction:
As training in Complex General Surgical Oncology (CGSO) continues to evolve as a board certified specialty, it is imperative to incorporate innovative approaches for time-effective education. Modern technological applications have changed the landscape of adult education with the utilization of on-line video and audio lectures, allowing adult learners to consume media at their convenience. These platforms can be used to prime learners prior to a planned lecture in a “flipping the classroom” model, which allow for a more meaningful interaction between students and teachers. This strategy is gaining popularity across all stages of education, but has yet to be applied to advanced surgical training. As part of our CGSO fellowship, we have a one-hour weekly educational conference, which typically consists of a peer-to-peer lecture given by a fellow, with oversight and a short discussion from a faculty surgeon. To enhance this educational experience, we conducted a pilot study implementing a “flipping the classroom” strategy for this weekly conference.
Methods:
A pre-conference, narrated video lecture was created and placed on YouTube one week prior to a planned one-hour conference focused on case discussions with a faculty surgeon. A link for the video was sent to the 18 fellows at our institution. We were able to track the number of times each video was viewed prior to, and after, the conference. Learning preferences and satisfaction with this educational model were assessed with a survey of conference attendees.
Results:
Twelve of 15 (80%) attendees responded to the survey. Prior to the institution of pre-lecture videos, 9/12 (75%) respondents did not typically prepare at all for weekly conferences. Eleven (92%) respondents watched the video prior to conference at least once, and 3 (25%) watched the video more than once to prepare for conference. Per YouTube analytics, the video was viewed a total of 15 times prior to the conference. Ten (83%) respondents found the video very/extremely helpful in preparation for conference, 2 (17%) somewhat helpful, and none responded that it was not helpful. Eleven (92%) respondents answered they likely would use videos to prep for conference every week and 10 (83%) said they would use archived videos to study for board review. In the following 3 weeks, the video was viewed 5 times. While 10 (83%) respondents preferred this format, only 6 (50%) said they would be willing to prepare a pre-lecture video assuming 2-3 hours of additional preparation time would be required.
Conclusion:
“Flipping the classroom” strategies are applicable for advanced surgical education. Our preliminary data shows that this strategy increases preparation for education conference and that trainees actively engage in, and prefer, this type of education. Future studies examining this strategy will examine the impact of the flipped classroom strategy on knowledge transfer.