In-person, Hybrid, and Virtual Grand Rounds in Plastic Surgery: Impact and Participant Perceptions.

Many plastic surgery residency programs adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing virtual grand rounds. This study aimed to assess the impact of virtual grand rounds and how attendees perceived virtual grand rounds to inform future programmatic planning. Methods: This was a quality improvement initiative involving a cross-sectional survey and retrospective review of administrative records for the 2017-2018 (in-person) and 2021-2022 (virtual) academic years for two academic plastic surgery training programs in Boston, MA. Respondents were residents, fellows, and faculty within the two multisite plastic surgery residency training programs. Results: There were 39 respondents (51% faculty, 41% residents, and 8% fellows). There was no evidence of different preferences for the format of future grand rounds (P = 0.08), with most preferring hybrid, defined as in person for speakers and others who could attend. Most respondents indicated a more accessible learning environment (86.8%) and lack of in-person interaction (82.1%) as reasons for liking and not liking virtual grand rounds, respectively. Excluding outliers, attendance in 2021-2022 was on average 7.4% points greater than that in 2017-2018 (P < 0.001), or six to seven more individuals at each session. There were significantly more out-of-state speakers in 2021-2022 (84%) as compared to 2017-2018 (28%) (P = 0.0008). Conclusions: Virtual grand rounds improved attendance and the geographic diversity of speakers. Attendees preferred a hybrid format for future grand rounds, citing advantages and disadvantages to both in-person and virtual formats.