A Pandemic of Webinars in the COVID Era—Can It be the Way Forward?

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Conferences are important and sometimes mandatory to update the clinician with latest knowledge. Attending conferences requires planning, expenditure, and leave from work. Webinars have become the new normal in the coronavirus disease (COVID) era. We surveyed the esteemed medical fraternity on their opinion on webinars. Methods This was conducted as an online survey (Survey Monkey) through personal electronic mails and social media with 24 questions. Details on demographic profile, specialization and affiliation, experience, choice of frequency of webinar sessions, suitable platform, mode of intimation of webinars, number of days for prior intimation, appropriate timing of the day and week, and ideas on payment options were enquired. Need for technical assistance, choice of topic for discussions, methods to make webinars more interactive, availability of recorded content, and impact on clinical practice were also assessed. Results A total of 235 medical professionals voiced their opinion; 67% were < 35 years of age and 49% were residents. An average of 2 to 3 webinars per month (33.8%), conducted on weekdays (63%), after 6 p.m. (54%) in the form of case discussion (67.3%) or lectures from experts (55%) with at least 7 days' notice (41.7%) was the most common choice; free webinars were the wish of 56.1% participants and 28% felt webinars would definitely impact practice. Conclusion Webinars are welcoming even after the COVID era and should go hand-in-hand with conventional conferences. Virtual learning experience should be optimized by proper scheduling of multiple simultaneous events and converting them into interlinked or serial events.