Impact of virtual education on urology education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: The coronavirus pandemic changed the way urology education was delivered. At Dalhousie University, third-year medical students (clinical clerks) undergoing a two-week urology elective had the historic in-person seminars changed to virtual seminars with pre-recorded lectures by staff. The academic abilities of the clerks were measured via a standardized written exam and clinical score assigned by a staff preceptor. This study aimed to measure the impact of virtual education on student performance. Methods: Clerk clinical and exam scores have been recorded since 2014. The in-person seminar (pre-COVID) cohort included students from January 2014 to March 2020 (n=109), while the virtual seminar (post-COVID) cohort was recorded from April 2020 to August 2022 (n=60). Independent T-test was used to compare clinical, exam, and total scores between the pre-COVID student groups after ensuring normality. Results: Students in the virtual seminar group (mean ± standard deviation 88.69±6.50%) performed better than the in-person seminar student groups (86.32±6.33%) in terms of clinical performance gradings (p=0.02). There was no statistically significant difference in written exam scores between the in-person seminar and virtual seminar cohorts (77.34±10.94% vs. 78.75±11.37%, p=0.43). Cumulative scores were higher for virtual seminar student groups vs. in-person seminar cohort (86.70±5.40% vs. 84.52±5.44%, p=0.01). Conclusions: Clinical clerks undergoing virtual education during a two-week urology elective had improved clinical and cumulative score performances when compared to the in-personal seminar cohort; virtual seminars did not statistically negatively impact exam scores.