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Leadership, teamwork and technology enabling the largest free and accessible event worldwide on COVID-19 management
  1. Daniella Nunes Pereira,
  2. Milena Soriano Marcolino
  1. Medical School, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
  1. Correspondence to Dr Milena Soriano Marcolino, UFMG, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil; milenamarc{at}ufmg.br

Abstract

Objective To report the experience of technology-enabling organisation and deployment of a large-scale free online scientific event about COVID-19, and to share leadership lessons learnt.

Methods The ‘First Brazilian Congress of Clinical Evidence on COVID-19’ took place between 3 May and 7 May 2021 and was hosted by the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, one of Brazil’s top federal universities. Online platforms and a website were used for registration, as well as live transmission of the event, such as Zoom, YouTube and Even. A Situational Leadership framework was used to lead the team. Participants’ satisfaction was evaluated through an online questionnaire.

Results There were overall 27 000 registrations. The transmission reached over 97 100 views, from Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and the UK. Conference’s topics included the whole COVID-19 ‘system of care’. Speakers and moderators from all over Brazil and abroad were chosen according to their expertise on COVID-19 and on evidence-based medicine. Video testimonies were presented between sessions from people who could not work from home about what touched their heart during the pandemic. Accessibility was ensured through simultaneous translation to Brazilian sign language. From 2228 respondents of the satisfaction assessment questionnaire, 97.4% reported their expectations to be exceeded and 86.8% reported acquiring new knowledge about COVID-19.

Conclusion This experience showed that leadership, teamwork, motivation and technology enabled the dissemination of accessible scientific evidence on COVID-19 to a large audience through a free online event. Lessons learnt may be useful for the post-pandemic, for new-waves, as well as recovery.

  • COVID-19
  • multi-disciplinary
  • leadership assessment
  • medical leadership

This article is made freely available for personal use in accordance with BMJ’s website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained.

https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usage

https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2021-000571

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Footnotes

  • Contributors Authors contributed equally to the elaboration of the manuscript.

  • Funding The event got no specific funding. This report was supported by the National Institute of Health Assessment (Instituto de Avaliação de Tecnologias em Saúde - IATS)/National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico-CNPq) (grant number 465518/2014-1), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) (no grant number) and Grupo Mais Evidências. DNP received scholarships from Pró-Reitoria de Extensão from Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisMinas Gerais (PROEX UFMG) (no grant number).

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

  • Author note Dr Gabriel Rada is aware of the use of his image in the present article. He agreed to transfer his image rights for this picture.