Curriculum delivery in Medical Education during an emergency: A guide based on the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) has led the majority of countries worldwide to implement emergency lockdown plans to limit the spread of the virus; this has resulted in the interruption of on-campus school and university instruction. Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in medical education have varied from country to country, from closures of medical schools to online/distance learning approaches to abiding by country-specific measures such as social distancing to stop the spread of the disease. The sudden transition from on-campus learning to exclusively distance learning is challenging for both faculty and students and has required a lot of preparation and other efforts in a short time. This paper aims to share the experiences of four authors in the middle east that have dealt with the sudden transition from ordinary teaching and learning to fully online teaching. The process of Curriculum delivery in Medical Education during an emergency has included; establishing a sense of urgency, establishing working teams, conducting needs assessments, developing implementation plans, communicating the curriculum content, capacity building, managing students' stress, finding tools to be used, managing student engagement and motivation, student assessment, anticipating challenges and planning for how to overcome them, and monitoring and evaluation of curriculum implementation and continuous improvement. The proposed process will hopefully assist the medical schools in response to the current pandemic (COVID-19) and when facing similar situations.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dental academia. Students’ experience in online education and expectations for a predictable practice.

“…The success of distant learning relies not only on the students' motivation but on continuous interaction between learners and facilitators [17]. A synchronous collaboration might be the cornerstone to enhance their level of engagement [21]. Our students have noticed that the quarantine increased their interactions and collaboration especially with their classmates.…”

“…We hope not to see this as a detriment to education but a learning experience giving way to a new generation of digital academia. Perhaps, this global change created the momentum for us all to exchange ideas and medical schools must share their practices and valuable experiences [21].…”

Higher education institutions and the use of online instruction and online tools and resources during the COVID-19 outbreak - An online review of selected U.S. and SA's universities

“…In this new global setup, both ERL and ERT became almost a new normal. Naturally, when a pandemic breaks out in a world characterised by rapid technological developments in digital tools and apps, and in the area of online teaching and learning, there is an inclination to port or migrate teaching and learning to online platforms, and to upscale online teaching and learning resources (Basilaia & Kvavadze, 2020;Chick et al, 2020;Cornock, 2020;Mian & Khan, 2020;Sahu, 2020;Surma & Kirschner, 2020;Taha et al, 2020;Van et al, 2010;cf. Meyer & Wilson, 2011).…”

Lessons Learned from a Pandemic: One Medical School’s Response to COVID-19

“…The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted medical education and demanded intense and immediate attention from medical educators [1][2][3] .…”

“…Medical schools' responses to sudden lockdowns are not well documented in the literature, and there are few reports outlining the response to previous epidemics 3 . During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in China (2003)(2004) some Chinese medical schools o cially cancelled formal teaching on wards and their exams were delayed, hindering the education of medical students 4 .…”