556 - The ASPN FOAM group: Teaching through social media during COVID-19 pandemic related education disruption- a pilot study

Poster Number: 556
Publication Number: 556.245

Sai Sudha Mannemuddhu, East Tennessee Children's Hospital, University of Tennesse, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, United States; Priti Meena, All india college of medical sciences, Odisha, Orissa, India; Swasti Chaturvedi, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Roshan P. George, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States

Background: Social media (SoMe) has proven to be a successful educational platform with its ability to close geographic gaps and flex to busy schedules, particularly during the COVID19 pandemic. The American Society of Pediatric Nephrology Free Open-access Medical Education group (ASPNFOAM), formed in Oct 2020, is an online collective of trainees and faculty (national and international) creating free, open-access medical education (FOAMed) materials monthly as tweetorials and infographics based on ASPN pathology and radiology webinars.

Objective: To assess producer and consumer FOAMed experience.

Design/Methods: An anonymous survey was sent to the 20 members from Nov15- Dec 20, 2021. Another survey was conducted and disseminated on Twitter. Questions were designed as multiple-choice answers or qualitative responses on a 0-5 Likert scale. Data here was censored in Dec 2021. 
 

Results: Producer experience: Response rate was 75% (n=15). 47% of the members were from a small nephrology group (< /= 3 members). The impact of involvement in the ASPNFOAM group was noted to be along 2 domains- 1) teaching and learning- 87% felt the experience improved their medical knowledge, and skills in writing, editing, and posting tweetorials. Improvement in using SoMe tools and participating in FOAMed activities was reported by 87%, and knowledge of FOAMed opportunities by 80%, 2) Networking and mentoring- 73-80% noted an increase in webinar awareness/ attendance. Surveyees’ met their goals to teach and learn nephrology, improve/ learn FOAMed skills, and network. Teamwork, mentorship, and opportunities were quoted as the strengths.
Consumer Experience: There were a total of 13 responses from the USA and Mexico (Fig 2) by attending physicians (77%), residents (15%), and medical students (8%). 83% noted the pandemic's negative effect on their educational experience, and 92% found the ASPNFOAM an effective learning tool. On a scale of 1-5 for the quality of tweetorials (5 for highest), the mean score was 4.3. 46% felt tweetorials (15-20 tweets long) were appropriate length and 46% felt they were lengthy. 77% confirmed increased access to ASPN webinars (timing, location & interest). Surveyees suggested expanding to case discussions, journal clubs and incorporating SoMe tools like quizzes, and blog posts.Conclusion(s): Both producers and consumers felt participation in the ASPNFOAM added to their medical education regarding knowledge, tweetorial construction and publication, networking, and educational scholarship. Our data reinforce the ability of FOAMed to complement traditional medical education, especially during this COVID19 pandemic.
Fig 1: ASPNFOAM group education materials-Producer experience
Fig 2: ASPNFOAM group education materials- Consumer experience