Feedback from the Science Café roundtables at the ninth European Bioanalysis Forum Young Scientist Symposium: optimizing the work-life balance in a bioanalytical laboratory.

As part of the European Bioanalysis Forum's continued commitment to develop young scientists beyond their scientific skills, we also focus on soft skills and a community responsibility during the Young Scientist Symposia, with the Science Café. In previous years, we have focused on topics such as sustainability (green lab) or the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on career development. At the ninth Young Scientist Symposium, the Science Café roundtables focused on the work-life balance and how caring for it can be beneficial for both the individual and the company. Feedback from a premeeting survey and from the discussions during the roundtables can be an important addition to personal and professional development. If organizations are not already focusing on the importance of a healthy work-life balance, they can be inspired to include some aspects of the outcome of the Science Café discussions when developing their staff toward future (scientific) leadership.

Converting to Connect: A Rapid RE-AIM Evaluation of the Digital Conversion of a Clerkship Curriculum in the Age of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: With the advent of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic, a decision was made to remove medical students from clinical rotations for their own safety. This forced students on a core emergency medicine (EM) rotation at McMaster University to immediately cease all in-person activities. An urgent need for a virtual curriculum emerged. METHODS: A virtual curriculum consisting of asynchronous case-based learning on Slack, ask-me-anything webinars, and online e-modules was created to fill the need. We describe a program evaluation using the RE-AIM framework and a social networking analysis of participants. RESULTS: Medical students (n = 23) and 11 facilitators (five residents, six faculty members) participated in this pilot study. Faculty members sent a mean (±SD) of 115 (±117) messages (n = 6), and mean (±SD) message counts for students and residents were 49.96 (±25; n = 23) and 39 (±38; n = 5), respectively. A total of 62,237 words were written by the participants, with a mean of 1,831 per person. Each message consisted of a mean (±SD) of 25 words (±29). Students rapidly acquitted themselves to digital technology. Using the RE-AIM framework we highlight the feasibility of a virtual curriculum, discuss demands on faculty time, and reflect on strategies to engage learners. CONCLUSIONS: The use of asynchronous digital curricula creates opportunities for faculty-resident interaction and engagement. We report the successful deployment of a viable model for undergraduate EM training for senior medical students in the COVID-19 era of physical distancing.