On the brighter side, some members of our medical fraternity have pursued academic
activities despite these trying times. It is a time for us to ponder upon the pending
projects or revisit the shelved manuscripts. Another fruitful outcome of the available
academic time has been the virtual meetings or webinars conducted by various societies
and industry partners. Many professional societies such as the Indian Society of Vascular
and Interventional Radiology (ISVIR), Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), Society
of Vascular Interventional Neurology (SVIN), and Global Embolization Symposium and
Technologies (GEST) have organized structured webinar courses in the past few months.
These have become very popular with trainees and professionals alike. The webinars
have bridged geographic distances and allowed both the speakers and attendees from
various time zones to login and discuss the presentations. Some of the webinars were
mini conferences with credit hours issued based on self-declaration of the attendees.
These virtual conferences offer unique advantages: they offer an opportunity to witness
and learn from the doyens and pioneers in one’s field. They have allowed us to connect
with peers from across the globe and learn from their practice. These webinars often
entail detailed discussion at the end of the presentation, and presenters can even
participate during another presentation. Most webinars are brief and focused, long
enough to cover the breadth of the topic discussed but short enough to sustain the
interest and attention of the attendees. Some of the webinars are recorded and archived
for future access and dissemination. It is needless to mention the time, money, and
resources saved in not having to travel to attend these events in person.
The pandemic has offered us the opportunity to explore this previously underutilized
platform in medical academia. There has been enough growing interest in this tool
among educators that a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of webinars was published
by Gregenfurtner et al in 2019.[1] The meta-analysis yielded a few interesting results and affirmed existing beliefs
on the positive impact of this educational tool on learners. Nonetheless, online learning
cannot replace the benefits of attending medical conferences in person. Apart from
being an academic feast, conferences are also a time for socializing, catching up
with old friends and sharing moments—that camaraderie is something that is distinctly
missing in the digital world.
These virtual conferences have emerged as an opportunity during the restricted lifestyle
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has bridged boundaries and helped us learn from
our peers and pioneers in one’s field of work. Hopefully, the positive influence that
the webinars have had continues beyond the time of this pandemic, and the online teaching
resources created today will expand and serve to enrich our knowledge in the future.
