Five questions for five experts

We asked five experts to answer five questions about events and education after the pandemic. Results: 25 professional and personal insights.

Prof. Ronald Jung | Switzerland

University of Zurich

What was your educational highlight during the pandemic?

Geistlich vLab. We could reach out to people we could never reach at that large of a scale in a live hands-on workshop.

How did you change your own event organization?

We are still planning the international events such as EAO purely online. When participants join from around the world, it is impossible to predict whether the next gathering will be hybrid or, once again, live.

What can be done to compensate for the lack of personal contact?

I’m looking positively at what the new normal has offered. A few years ago, clinicians were skeptical about online education. This mindset has changed.

What is your new, ideal course format?

A blended concept with online exchange of theoretical knowledge, live practical exercises and an online mentoring program that would bring the new concept into practice.

How can young clinicians navigate the huge offering of online courses?

The reliable courses are those offered by the universities or the companies that work with independent lecturers. Ms. Erin O’Donnell Dotzler | USA

American Academy of Periodontology

What was your educational highlight during the pandemic?

The AAP 14+ webinars, which ranged from epidemiological information about COVID-19, to considerations about patient care.

How did you change your own event organization?

Through the virtual platforms we amplified the newly developed multidimensional content curated from the global community of experts.

What can be done to compensate for the lack of personal contact?

The virtual format does not replace personal contact, but it has the benefit of making the thought leaders more approachable, e.g., using the chat feature, during an online lecture.

What is your new, ideal course format?

Multi-dimensional offerings for education including a curriculum for that learning to occur, e.g., an online course with a live follow-up opportunity.

How can young clinicians navigate the huge offering of online courses?

Having a larger pool of options means the clinicians should be more thoughtful about discerning the objectivity and the integrity of the content.

Prof. Michael Payer | Austria

Dental School Med Univ. Graz Prof. Chunbo Tang | China

Nanjing Medical University Prof. Daniel Buser | Switzerland

University of Bern

What was your educational highlight during the pandemic?

The EAO Digital Days in September 2020. Outstanding speakers were broadcasted from a TV studio in Paris for participants from all over the world.

How did you change your own event organization?

We learned a lot about online education and the power of social media, but I will be happy when we go back to normal events.

What can be done to compensate for the lack of personal contact?

I think we will never be able to fully compensate for the lack of personal interactions, but online education definitely helped a lot during the pandemic.

What is your new, ideal course format?

It offers both personal contact and scientific exchange onsite with all the safety concepts, plus live streaming for those who cannot attend.

How can young clinicians navigate the huge offering of online courses?

There is a clear duty for scientific societies and universities to provide quality online education. However young colleagues are already very capable in assessing the quality level of online courses. What was your educational highlight during the pandemic?

Last summer our college conducted its annual oral implantology debating competition online. The scale of the event was larger than ever.

How did you change your own event organization?

Online education was already becoming a trend, which only accelerated because of the pandemic. We chose more interesting topics and invited speakers with strong communication skills.

What can be done to compensate for the lack of personal contact?

We should take full advantage of all digital technologies. A more advanced mobile application might help.

What is your new, ideal course format?

A combination of both online and live courses. Live events are indispensable, but online courses reach more clinicians and solve the problem of long-distance travel in larger countries.

How can young clinicians navigate the huge offering of online courses?

This generation has grown up in the digital era and can quickly adapt when we deliver the right and interesting courses that stimulate their interest and enthusiasm. What was your educational highlight during the pandemic?

The progress made with hybrid continuing education (CE) courses, including live or on-demand streaming.

How did you change your own event organization?

I gave countless webinars and organized online courses such as the GBR Master Course in Bern. I believe the future of CE courses will be hybrid offerings, when participants are either personally onsite or online with a live or on-demand stream.

What can be done to compensate for the lack of personal contact?

When this pandemic is over, pure online offerings will disappear.

What is your new, ideal course format?

Hybrid CE courses. They clearly foster the international knowledge exchange.

How can young clinicians navigate the huge offering of online courses?

That’s not so easy. Four aspects will help them decide: (1) speakers and their reputation, (2) platform and landing page, (3) social media marketing and (4) the discounting strategy for tuition fees.