Resident Doctors’ Perception of Virtual Meetings as Alternative Training Platform during Covid-19 Pandemic in a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

Abstract

The prevention of COVID-19 infection spread brought about the concept of physical distancing and a resultant suspension of physical meetings. This posed a threat of interruption to the academic aspects of residency training and an alternative online teleconferencing was employed. The study assessed the perception of Resident Doctors’ on Virtual Meetings as an alternative training platform during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the limitations of accessing this method of training in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Institution. This cross-sectional study was conducted using a semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire to obtain information on bio-data, participation/ knowledge, perception and challenges of virtual meetings from all consenting Resident Doctors at the Federal Medical Centre Bida Niger State. Results One hundred and eight resident doctors participated in the study. There was an increased Residents’ participation in virtual meeting by 28.6% with the advent of COVID-19. A greater percentage (79.9%) of the respondents agreed that online meeting is a new innovation in residency training and 80% agreed it was a welcome idea for training. 53.7% agreed it would prevent an interruption in training while 73.7% want virtual meetings to continue after lockdown restrictions are relaxed. The major challenges identified by respondents were poor internet service (94%), lack of institutional internet facility (81%), Poor power supply (62%), and Distraction by calls/ads (58%). Virtual meetings have temporarily replaced traditional physical meetings and has been a major step to avoid programme interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has effectively served the functions of physical meetings and should continue after the pandemic restrictions are relaxed despite its attendant challenges.