Interactive online tutorials for knowledge-sharing during a pandemic: Experience of the OxPal Partnership

Introduction: Web-based distance-learning is increasingly used during the COVID-19 pandemic OxPal is a pre-established medical education partnership between University of Oxford medical students and their counterparts in Palestine Our work has shown online learning to be feasible and effective for knowledge sharing to the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt)1 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, OxPal rapidly organised and conducted a lecture on the virology and epidemiology of COVID-19 In feedback, the most common request was for further teaching on COVID-19 management (13/36 requests), which was supported by focus group discussion Conducting teaching internationally raises unique challenges in understanding and responding rapidly to local needs Objectives: We seek to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of interactive, real-time online tutorials on the management of COVID-19 as a method for knowledge sharing to the oPT during the pandemic Methods: Our established network was used to advertise tutorials to medical students and clinicians in the oPt (>800 unique emails and 2 social media platforms) Tutorials were conducted by a critical care consultant via Zoom A systematic approach to management of severe COVID-19 was provided The lecturer's local guidance was shared and its evidence base discussed Feedback was elicited via an online survey The primary outcomes were attendance and learner-reported change in confidence in COVID-19 management As of June 2020, 3 such sessions have been conducted and placed on Youtube2 Results: Primary outcome data is shown in Table 1 Feedback came from students at all medical schools in the oPT, from levels spanning Year 4 Medical Student to Resident doctor When asked to rate tutorial quality on a 1-5 scale, 7/8 respondents for Lecture 1 rated tutorial quality as 4 (Good);for Lecture 2 4/9 respondents rated the tutorial quality as 4 (Good) and 2 rated it as 5 (Excellent) 7/8 and 7/9 described the difficulty of Lectures 1 and 2 respectively as '3-About right' on a 1-5 scale Conclusion: Online distance-learning is feasible and effective for knowledge sharing to the oPt during the COVID-19 pandemic We saw a drop in attendance over 3 sessions This could be due to a reduction in new cases in the oPt in that time (May to mid-June 2020)3, reducing perceived need There were also medical school examinations in June Therefore, lecture plans must be made in response to immediate need and be systematically adaptable as the target population's situation changes