Rajan,Deepa, Pillai,Vinod G, Varghese,Patsy, Rajan,Deepa, Pillai,Vinod G, and Varghese,Patsy
Deepa Rajan, 1 Vinod G Pillai, 2 Patsy Varghese 1 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Believers Church Medical College Hospital, Thiruvalla, Kerala, India; 2Department of Surgery, Believers Church Medical College Hospital, Thiruvalla, Kerala, IndiaCorrespondence: Vinod G PillaiDepartment of Surgery, Believers Church Medical College Hospital, Thiruvalla, Kerala, 689103, IndiaTel/Fax +91 469 3503100Email drvinodpillai@gmail.comIntroduction: The Covid pandemic and social distancing has adversely impacted the conventional apprenticeship method of postgraduate training in laparoscopic surgery. Social media may be a useful adjunct for laparoscopic training, but its utility in developing countries like India has not been studied carefully. This paper describes an observational, cross-sectional study on the educational utility of Facebook groups based in India and which focus on laparoscopic gynecologic surgery.Methods: The most popular Facebook groups involving Indians and focusing on laparoscopic gynecology were identified using appropriate search terms as well as inclusion and exclusion criteria. Demographic data related to the groups, the authors of posts as well as descriptive statistics of all the posts during the study period were collected and appropriate statistical analysis was performed.Results: All the groups in this study were large and growing steadily. Posts related to laparoscopy were more likely to be videos, dealing with operative techniques and having educational value for postgraduate residents (p value < 0.001) compared to posts unrelated to laparoscopic surgery. The majority of posts (88.2%) presented original content created by group members rather than material shared from other sources. Members preferred to share laparoscopic content using links to their personal YouTube channels rather than using institutional YouTube channels, dedicated websites for laparoscopic surgery or direct posts on Facebook. Group members liked educational cont