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Virtual Tools for Training: The Spectrum of Apps and Virtual Aids for Learning Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Gene Ma¹, Alejandra Domínguez², Roque Saenz³, and Sarah McGill⁴

¹ The Permanente Medical Group, San Jose, CA, USA

² Universidad del Desarrollo/CAS, San Jose, CA, USA

³ Clinica Alemana Santiago/Universidad del Desarrollo Santiago, Santiago, Chile

⁴ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, San Jose, NC, USA

Focus

—We provide an overview of the wide range of virtual educational offerings for gastroenterologists including a sampling from each category

Introduction

“Lifelong learning,” a familiar mantra in medicine, is critical in the field of gastroenterology. Gastroenterology is constantly evolving, with updated guidelines and novel tools, therapeutics, and procedures. With gastroenterology’s continuous change, all gastroenterologists—from fellows‐in‐training to seasoned practitioners—require trusted and effective educational resources. A range of virtual resources exist to accommodate varying needs and learning styles including traditional lecture‐based videos to smartphone apps to podcasts. In addition to fulfilling a desire for learning and knowledge, many of these resources can also provide Continuing Medical Education (CME) or Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credits.

The COVID19 pandemic showed us how virtual learning can be at times not only useful, but imperative. With conferences canceled and many trainees excluded from endoscopic procedures, virtual learning and communication became urgently important. The future will show whether this seismic shift in learning will leave us with lasting changes.

The challenge with the abundance of resources is that although information is almost instantaneously available at one’s fingertips, finding the right resource for the right situation and the right person can be akin to finding a needle in a haystack. The goal of this chapter is not to provide a comprehensive list of every online resource but instead to introduce the reader to the breadth of online gastroenterological resource categories available along with high‐quality examples within each category.

GI procedure videos

There is something magical about watching elegant endoscopy performed by skilled endoscopists in procedural videos. That is because once the endoscopist masters scope handling, the image of the video in the mind can guide his or her own endoscopic technique. Endoscopic procedural videos can show us how to include normal tissue for cold snare polypectomy, how to position the bleeding artery during over‐the‐scope clipping, or the nuances of biliary cannulation. Our most intense period of training as gastroenterologists is during fellowship, yet afterward optimal endoscopic approach continues to evolve, and hands‐on instruction is rarely possible in practice. Instructional videos can help to fill in the gap.

Online resources with GI procedural videos

Online resource	Description
GI Leap, the online resource by American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE)	GI procedural videos are central among the offerings of GI Leap, and topics range from the very basic to cutting edge
Video GIE, an online publication by ASGE	Each article includes videos highlighting endoscopic technique
YouTube	Endoscopist Gottumukkala Raju’s “Clean Cut” channel, Mohamed Othman’s “Endoscopy Pearls” channel, among others
Endoscopy On Air	Internationally focused online platform with recordings of live courses and procedures from around the world

GI society educational platforms

c36i001 These professional associations are trusted voices within the GI community and each has produced their own online educational platform. The resources available on each range from recorded webinars and courses to content specifically created for online use. Video 36.1 demonstrates browsing and select offerings from the GI Leap platform.