Professional conferences in the COVID-19 era

摘要

The COVID-19 pandemic continues in 2021. Vaccination has begun, but it is difficult to predict the end of the pandemic. Face-to-face contact is discouraged to prevent the spread of highly virulent COVID-19, and physical distancing is affecting entire societies including education systems and industry. In January 2020, the annual oral cancer reconstruction workshop held by Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (KAOMS) and Korean Association of Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (KAMPRS) was canceled because of COVID-19. The universities postponed the start of spring semester and conducted online lectures. As a result, many professors had to depend unfamiliar online lecture system and learning management system (LMS). In early 2020, it was expected that the COVID-19 pandemic would slow in the summer with increasing temperatures. This was a reasonable prediction based on the pattern of SARS-CoV-1, which started in November 2002 and lasted until July 2003. However, the season did not affect the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. Many academic associations, including KAOMS, chose to temporarily postpone their annual conferences, and many subsequently decided to hold them online. Some institutions, including European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery and Asian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons cancelled their congresses for the year. However, most autumn conferences, including that of the KAMPRS, were held online. Development of online education has been steadily increasing with the spread of the Internet and was vastly employed in the COVID-19 era. Such online professional conferences would not have been possible in the early 2000s before the advent of smartphones, video calls, and online lecture platforms.