BackgroundFormal regional Paediatric teaching was cancelled after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Local teaching was impacted upon by social distancing, rota redesign, redeployment and home working, and was completely paused in many units.ObjectivesAcknowledging the potential impact of this on trainees, particularly those in departments with no teaching, or those shielding at home, and keen to facilitate an equitable training experience for all, we formed a novel collaborative pan-region virtual Paediatric teaching network.MethodsDepartments who had established virtual teaching early were offered the opportunity to contribute towards a pan-region virtual education network. A wide range of departments generously shared educational opportunities;mostly held via Zoom. A comprehensive virtual teaching schedule, listing these opportunities, was shared with all trainees every week on our regional trainee website. A total of 100 events (average 6 per week) were included between April - September 2020, covering General Paediatrics, Neonatology, PICU, PEM, Community Paediatrics and sub-specialties, plus trainee wellbeing-related sessions.ResultsFeedback was sought to evaluate the impact of the pan-region virtual teaching network. We received responses from 59 trainees, covering all training grades from ST1 to ST8. In terms of departmental teaching, 50% (n = 29) of trainees reported that teaching within their department had continued throughout the pandemic. However, 15% (n = 9) reported it had only been available for 2–4 weeks, and a further 14% (n = 8) reported no local teaching at any point during the pandemic. Overall, 95% (n = 55) of trainees felt that the virtual education network should continue. Just 5% (n = 3) of trainees felt it should not continue once formal regional teaching restarted, stating reasons such as ‘if it is in addition to regional days, it might feel like you can never have a day off!’. Other comments include ‘helps to standardise teaching that trainees receive across the region’, ‘good social interaction for shielding trainees’, ‘has had a positive impact on my learning’, ‘the main benefit is for trainees in smaller units where departmental teaching was reduced or completely stopped during the pandemic – the shared learning is invaluable for those trainees’, and ‘virtual teaching has been fantastic and has lessened the impact of COVID-19 on our training’.ConclusionsThanks to the generosity of the departments which were able to deliver virtual teaching throughout the pandemic, we were able to create a pan-region collaborative network of enthusiastic Paediatric educators. This meant we were able to share a wide range of excellent virtual teaching opportunities with all trainees in the region, throughout the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Feedback indicates that this initiative reduced the impact of the pandemic on trainee education and had a positive impact on trainee welfare during a challenging time. However, in this new virtual learning environment, where educational opportunities are so readily available, we also recognise the importance of trainees being able to safeguard their downtime. In view of this, we have continued sharing virtual teaching opportunities, but have reduced the number since formal HEE regional teaching restarted.
Zooming in on the silver lining: a collaborative virtual education network formed during the COVID-19 pandemic