Abstract:

Introduction:
The COVID-19 pandemic has been going on in Ukraine and around the world for more than a year. This process wasn’t unnoticed by Odessa National Medical University (ONMedU), where a new concept of combined postgraduate education for obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYN) residents was introduced at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN).

Goal:
To analyze the new combined concept effectiveness of postgraduate education for OB/GYN residents in quarantine through COVID-19, which includes innovative approaches to the educational process connected with traditional teaching methods.
Materials and methods. The research involved 139 OB/GYN residents who studied at the ONMedU OB/GYN Department in 2020-2021 under the new concept of combined learning due to quarantine restrictions (group I), and 132 ones who studied in 2018 - 2019 for traditional full-time educational program (group II).

The new concept of combined learning included:
Interactive online lectures, classes via video using pre-loaded information: presentations, videos, photos, cardiotocograms, partograms, etc., current and final (monthly) test controls, preparation for the KROK-3 licensing exam using Microsoft Teams and Office 365 cloud services.
Practice in the Simulation Center of medical care for obstetric pathologies (hypotonic bleeding, eclampsia, newborn resuscitation, pregnant women CPR, shoulders dystocia, fetal breech presentation assistance) was performed individually. They underwent seminar (10%) and practical (90%) classes for normal and pathological labor, obstetrical operations, urgent cases and emergencies in obstetrics with several different assessment protocols, including initial and final testing. Practical skills mastery assessment was conducted in the OSCE format.
Team work with changing roles using video-monitoring and debriefing by case-study check-lists (29 positions; from 2 to 5 points for each).
Personalized work in clinics with experienced personal tutors according to an individual schedule with observance of all anti-epidemic measures.
The learning outcomes and assessment have been analyzed with the help of imitational virtual platforms for OB/GYNs, birth simulators, virtual operation room and virtual labor room.

Results:
The average group I age was 23.1±0.78 years, and the second group age was 23.7±0.65 years (p> 0.05). The average diploma score on a 5-point scale in group I was 3.9±0.11 and in group II - 4.1±0.15 (p> 0.05). Both groups were homogeneous in age and baseline in the diploma. Group I showed significantly better results of the KROK-3 licensing exam compared to group II: average score 77.4%, obstetrics and gynecology subtest - 80.9% (group I); 70,8% and 72,7% respectively (group II). Attendance at lectures and online classes in group I was 99,5%, in group II - 84,3%. Practical skills individual assessment showed significantly better results in group I - 84.5% compared to group II (72, 3%). For the teamwork in group I, the best results were obtained at CPR stations of pregnant women, hypotonic bleeding and eclampsia. When assessing the theoretical knowledge on a 5-point scale, no significant differences were found between the groups: 4.2±0.5 and 4.4±0.3, respectively.

Conclusions:
The new model of blended learning has demonstrated its effectiveness in training resident obstetricians and gynecologists, making the most of the advantages and minimizing the disadvantages inherent in distance education.

Keywords:

Medical education, obstetrics-gynecology residents, postgraduate education, combined educational concept, quarantine restrictions, COVID-19.