Intercontinental videoconference between US and Hungarian obstetricians: a 30-month study.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Telemedicine
• Obstetrics and Gynecology

Background:

• International collaboration in medical education can bridge geographical gaps.
• Videoconferencing offers a platform for remote knowledge exchange.
• Assessing the novelty and impact of shared clinical information is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the novelty of clinical topics presented via videoconference between two international obstetrics and gynecology departments.
• To explore the relationship between information novelty, discussion length, and participant engagement.

Main Methods:

• 19 videoconferences conducted over 30 months between US and Hungarian medical centers.
• ISDN transmission at 384 kbit/s utilized for all sessions.
• Clinical topics presented by US experts, recorded, and novelty scored by independent researchers on a Likert scale (0-10).

Main Results:

• Novelty scores ranged from 0 to 8, with a trend towards lower scores.
• Significant negative correlations found between novelty scores and both the number of questions (r=-0.63) and discussion length (r=-0.84).
• Presentations on familiar topics resulted in longer discussions and shared experiences.

Conclusions:

• Videoconferencing sessions tended to present familiar information rather than highly novel content.
• Familiarity, rather than novelty, appears to drive deeper engagement and experience sharing in this collaborative setting.
• Optimizing international medical teleconferences may involve balancing novel information with relatable, practice-relevant topics.