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. 2022 Oct 12:24:73-77.
doi: 10.1016/j.tipsro.2022.09.008. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Postgraduate education in radiation oncology during the COVID-19 pandemic - What did we learn?

Jesper Grau Eriksen, Luca Boldrini, Eduard Gershkevitsh, Matthias Guckenberger, Uulke van der Heide, Ben Heijmen, Mike Joiner, Remi Nout, Martin Pruschy, Coen Rasch, Li Tee Tan, Dirk Verellen, Marie-Catherine Vozenin, Miika Palmu, Laura La Porta, Chiara Gasparotto; ESTRO School

Postgraduate education in radiation oncology during the COVID-19 pandemic - What did we learn?

Jesper Grau Eriksen et al. Tech Innov Patient Support Radiat Oncol. .

Abstract

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic the ESTRO School who provides international non-profit postgraduate education in Radiation Oncology and related disciplines, including Medical Physics and Radiation Technology, had to close down all live educational activities and turn online, although having only limited experience. The paper describes the experience, discusses the limitations and benefits of online education and suggests directions for the future.

Materials and methods: Data about format and feedback from attendees and faculty members from the course activities held in 2019, 2020 and 2021 were made available from the ESTRO School.

Results: In 2020, all but two out of thirty live courses that happened before the lockdown were canceled. Among the 18 courses scheduled in the second half of the year, seven went online with a short notice. Each course planned their activities quite differently, from compressed courses with consecutive full days online program to courses over several weeks with a few hours online a week. Both numbers of participants and different nationalities were higher than live courses in 2019 for the seven courses happening online, and courses were well evaluated by participants and faculties. Roughly-one-third of participants would prefer online courses in the future.

Discussion: Although online education was well received by the majority, pros and cons exist and especially the personal discussions and networking were missed. Online education and live education are not comparable but can complement each other. Careful balancing these activities in the future is important and strategies for online andragogy are needed.

Keywords: Adult education; COVID-19; ESTRO; Online education; Radiotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Countries with ESTRO School participation in (A) 2019 (live only) and (B) 2020 (both live and online). The grey color represents no participants from that country whereas the darker the colors the more participants from the country in question.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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