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Abstract Background Nationwide restrictions and recommendations from the Association of American Medical Colleges mandated program directors to conduct all graduate medical education interviews virtually in the Spring of 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was conducted to assess the impact of virtual interviews on a candidates’ ability to effectively create a rank list. Objective The primary objective of this study was to evaluate Obstetrics and Gynecology (ObGyn) subspecialty fellowship applicants’ perspectives regarding the effectiveness of virtual interviews for creating a rank list. Secondary outcomes included perceived advantages and disadvantages of the process and costs of the process. Methods This was a cross-sectional IRB-exempt study, using an electronic survey administered to a convenience sample of applicants to ObGyn subspecialty fellowship programs. The survey was administered via RedCap between the rank list submission deadline and the Match. Descriptive statistics were used. Results Response rate was 158/330 (48%). Overall, 129/158 (82%) percent of respondents felt confident in making their rank list based on the virtual interviews, and 146/158 (92%) were “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the process. Of those who expressed an interview style preference, 65/149(44%) of respondents preferred virtual interviews; 49/149(33%) had no preference or were not sure. Nearly all 146/148(99%) applicants cited cost-savings as a distinct advantage of virtual interviews. Conclusion Applicants to ObGyn subspecialty fellowships felt comfortable to create a rank list based on the virtual interview. This study indicates that the virtual format is effective, less stressful and less costly for ObGyn subspecialty interviews and should be considered beyond the pandemic to remove barriers and burdens for applicants.

Abstract Background Access to continuing education opportunities is limited for Ukrainian healthcare workers, and the need is acute in order to support healthcare reform efforts currently underway in Ukraine. Online learning is a cost-effective mechanism for continuing education since healthcare workers can remain on the job during training. It also provides a means of keeping health professionals up to date on their knowledge and skills in rapidly changing and increasingly complex healthcare environments. Methods This paper describes the process of adapting an existing e-learning course from a US institution to the Ukrainian setting. Course participants’ feedback was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the adapted version that was piloted twice in 2016–2017 with 53 participants in total, 46 of whom completed the course and contributed to the evaluation. Results This was the first fully online course on Leadership and Management in Health (LMiH) to be offered in Ukraine. Several lessons were learned during course adaptation when multiple aspects of the Ukrainian environment were taken into account including 1) linguistic accessibility, 2) access to the Internet, 3) computer literacy, and 4) novelty of online learning. Based on these findings, course material was first adapted by translating it from English to Ukrainian with the emphasis on cultural adjustment of idioms and real life examples. Then, using the first pilot results and participants suggestions, videotaped interviews with local healthcare management experts were added in order to further enhance cultural suitability as well as relevance and applicability of the course concepts. The last but not least lesson learned consisted in the fact that enhancing, transitioning, and sustaining online learning to new contexts required engagement of key stakeholders, national level support, and technical assistance through implementation and beyond yet turned out to be both cost-effective and sustainable investment of limited resources. Formative evaluation confirmed that the adaptation efforts resulted in a course relevant and acceptable to healthcare professionals in Ukraine. Conclusion Transition of the course to local ownership was accomplished in partnership with the Ukrainian Family Medicine Training Center in the Bogomolets National Medical University in Kyiv: LMiH is now certified for continuing medical education credit and offered twice a year by this institution. Lessons learned from this experience provide a roadmap for rapidly increasing access to new knowledge and skills for healthcare workers by adapting existing online resources to local needs; they are used to facilitate rapid expansion of other continuing education offerings in Ukraine: additional online courses from the University of Washington (UW) are planned for adaptation.