Simulation Must Go On! Online Simulation to Medical Students as a Learning Strategy During Social Isolation of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe how professors of the Emergency Medicine Discipline at a Faculty of Medicine in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, managed to use Online Simulation as a teaching tool during the social isolation of the pandemic COVID-19. The activity was aimed at students of the fourth year of Medicine within the scope of the discipline. The study also shows the hit rate of medical students in online simulation scenarios and the students' satisfaction with the activity. Methods: It was a dual descriptive and quantitative study. 107 people participated in the study, being: 12 professors and 28 monitors, in addition to 67 medical students divided into scenario participants and observers. A total of 32 simulation cases were performed, occurring four days a week, for five weeks. The study design involved six phases: Learning objectives and teams organizations; Event registration; Data collect; Simulation scenarios; Debriefing sessions and Event evaluation. Each phase is detailed in the paper. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic had catastrophic effects, but it also led us to assess our current educational activities. We need to learn from experiences. Online simulation ushered in a new form of teaching and learning at our university. The students accepted the new simulation model with ease, as they belong to the millennium generation, fully accustomed to technical resources. They seemed to feel at ease in this situation, enjoying all the advantages it offers: studying at home, in their own way, in their own time. After COVID-19 pandemic, medical education may have changed forever. Further studies must evaluate the consequences of these changes in the future.