Delivering training during pandemic times and beyond

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many face-to-face training courses are being redesigned to be delivered virtually. In the UK, the Sexually Transmitted Infection Foundation (STIF) Course is traditionally a 2-day training programme split into two modules: STIF Core and STIF Plus. Both days consist of a mixture of facilitator-led sessions and small group workshops, and this is accompanied by 8–10 hours of e-learning that the participants undertake in advance. Here we report how, in Barnsley and Buckinghamshire, we piloted the delivery of the Online STIF Foundation courses using Microsoft Teams (MS Teams). In both cases, the usual full-day training was replaced by shorter sessions as it was felt that uninterrupted full-day virtual learning was not conducive for learning.