Can Smart Glasses improve knowledge and learning for specialist doctors? Evidences from experiences

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sudden reorganization of surgical activities to deal with the global emergency. Non-urgent surgeries have been postponed providing resources for COVID-19 patients and non-deferrable cases. This collapse in activity has profoundly compromised the training programs for specialist doctors or medical residents (whose activity is usually focused on inpatients, outpatient clinics, minor surgeries) (Hodges et al., 2020). An alternative to the traditional training method, where skills are acquired primarily in the classroom and operating theatre, is training with digital technologies that enable skills training remote. According to Vale et.al. (2021) in this transition process, teachers and students had to reflect, adapt, change, innovate and use digital tools. On these premises, the research focused on the implementation of Smart Glasses to support the training and learning of medical residents at the Hemodynamic Cardiology - Electrophysiology Unit of a University Hospital in Southern Italy. The methodological process was developed through a qualitative approach based on a case study, according to the methods and indications suggested by Yin (2009), which involved the collection of data through semi-structured interviews and analysis of documents. The data reveal, the transition from face-to-face teaching to remote teaching, or online teaching and learning, became the possible alternative for Education institutions to ensure the continuity of courses and medical residents learning. In this case study, the technology used are the smart glasses web-connected glasses that can present data onto the lenses and record images or videos through a front-facing camera. The medical residents displayed positive attitudes towards using the new device. The study results show that technology tools can effectively improve learning 1 efficiency and reduce learning cost and have shown that smart glasses training improved the technical abilities and reduced complication rates.