FlexFacs – innovative BAOMS online education resource goes live

21 September, 2021 / infocus
 Will Peakin  

FlexFacs, a new online training and educational resource for speciality trainees in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS), is being launched today (21 September) by the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS).

Rob Bentley, the BAOMS 2020 President, has used part of his Presidential Fund to set up and support the online education programme. “Covid-19 has prompted a shift to online learning,” he said, “and the BAOMS Fellows in Training group designed a national programme under the direction of Montey Garg in 2020, which was very well received by the trainees.

“The Presidential Fund has supported the development of the programme and the costs of hosting and recording the individual sessions. We’re approaching industry partners too, and I envisage that their financial contributions will provide the ongoing backing for the resource.”

Mike Nugent and Montey Garg, OMFS surgeons, have been appointed by BAOMS as Lead and Deputy Lead for delivering online education. “FlexFacs will be a great resource for OMFS specialty trainees that will allow them to keep abreast of the latest evidence in OMFS and learn at the same time,” they said in a joint statement.

They explained that the OMFS curriculum will be mapped “and we will support the delivery of the new curriculum over the next three years with monthly live virtual masterclasses led by experts in their fields.

“We are also working towards creating a repository of all similar recorded OMFS training lectures that other UK regions are offering trainees. Where we find good content we will share it with you and upload it to the BAOMS FlexFacs section of the website.

“FlexFacs will supplement training for trainees. It will encourage trainees across the country to learn as much as they can to become safe and competent oral and maxillofacial surgeons. We want to support them throughout their training in an accessible way that will help them to do their jobs better.”

The inaugural FlexFacs virtual masterclass on the airway module, will be led by OMFS consultant/head and neck surgeon Kunmi Fasanmade, and kicks off the programme on 21 September 2021 at 8pm. The monthly FlexFacs webinars run for 45 minutes starting at 8pm on the third Tuesday of the month.

“All the lectures will be uploaded onto the FlexFacs page on the BAOMS website,” they added.

And, in a really exciting move, Mike Nugent, Montey Garg and the FlexFacs team will work with Jag Dhanda, consultant OMFS/head & neck surgeon, on presenting surgical procedures using 360-degree cameras: “We want to include this excellent innovation to make it part of our flexible learning programme, and will make these operative videos available to trainees for a limited period of time every month.” 

Jag Dhanda has used advances in 3D video camera technology to develop online teaching of clinical skills and procedures. The FlexFacs team are also looking to record their own 3D content to add to the repository on the FlexFacs section of the BAOMS website. Jag said: “This is an excellent initiative by President Rob Bentley and is here to stay!”

The next FlexFacs online programme is on 19 October 2021 with consultant OMFS Niall McLeod on craniofacial trauma, and hosted by Mike Nugent.

Tags: BAOMS / Oral Surgery

Categories: News

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