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An online educational model in andrology for student training in the art of scientific writing in the COVID‐19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Agarwal Ashok,
Leisegang Kristian,
Panner Selvam Manesh Kumar,
Durairajanayagam Damayanthi,
Barbarosie Catalina,
Finelli Renata,
Sengupta Pallav,
Dutta Sulagna,
Majzoub Ahmad,
Pushparaj Peter Natesan,
Elbardisi Haitham,
Sharma Rakesh,
Gupta Sajal,
Arafa Mohamed,
Roychoudhury Shubhadeep,
Alves Marco G.,
Oliveira Pedro Fontes,
Henkel Ralf
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
andrologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1439-0272
pISSN - 0303-4569
DOI - 10.1111/and.13961
Subject(s) - covid-19 , pandemic , medical education , medicine , psychology , mathematics education , andrology , virology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , outbreak
In 2020, the COVID‐19 pandemic led to the suspension of the annual Summer Internship at the American Center for Reproductive Medicine (ACRM). To transit it into an online format, an inaugural 6‐week 2020 ACRM Online Mentorship Program was developed focusing on five core pillars of andrology research: scientific writing, scientific methodology, plagiarism understanding, soft skills development and mentee basic andrology knowledge. This study aims to determine mentee developmental outcomes based on student surveys and discuss these within the context of the relevant teaching and learning methodology. The mentorship was structured around scientific writing projects established by the team using a student‐centred approach, with one‐on‐one expert mentorship through weekly formative assessments. Furthermore, weekly online meetings were conducted, including expert lectures, formative assessments and social engagement. Data were collected through final assessments and mentee surveys on mentorship outcomes. Results show that mentees ( n = 28) reported a significant ( p < .0001) improvement in all criteria related to the five core pillars. These results illustrate that the aims of the online mentorship program were achieved through a unique and adaptive online educational model and that our model has demonstrated its effectiveness as an innovative structured educational experience through the COVID‐19 crisis.