Educational shutdown?

We are currently confronted with a flood of information about COVID-19. Clearly all eyeballs are now on the pandemic. As if no other topic in medicine currently existed. But what is even more worrisome: There is a complete shutdown of on-site education.

No meetings, no seminars, no conferences. Universities have now stopped all teaching activities. What does this mean for the medical community? How can the damage even be calculated? And what is a possible solution? 

Education goes digital

The buzzword now is online education. Practically all medical societies, organisations, and major universities have switched to webinars. Last week I counted 12 webinars in the area of cardiology alone. In a way, it makes me smile to see how organisations that have previously neglected the potential of online learning all of a sudden ramp up their online activities. 

Clearly. online Webinars work. In total, 24.000 HCP watched our 123sonography webinars live, and 25.000 saw the recorded version. Even the major conferences rarely reach such a large audience. 

A change in landscape

I bet that even after the COVID crisis many institutions will stick to the format of Webinars and will more strongly integrate it into live meetings. Especially since travel restrictions will prevail for many months—even after the worst is over.

What does this mean for you? You will get access to the best teachers no matter where they are, you will be able to listen to them over and over again, you will choose your own learning pace and spend less on travel and conference fees.

I predict a surge in e-learning after the Pandemic. Maybe in a few years we will look back and wonder how a virus was able not only to cause so many casualties and so much suffering, but also to change the face of education.

Best

Thomas Binder

Last update: 2020-04-04 02:50