implementation is chaotic, but as they note, it is irreversible. Indeed, confirmation of the change is Harvard Medical School's announcement that fall 2020 classes will be conducted online. If a second COVID-19 wave comes in the fall, the momentum will be unstoppable, as the infrastructure for online education, experience, and acceptance of it will be solidified.Contrary to Stoddard's and Mr Yim's claims, I never argued that technology will replace teachers. Teachers are fundamental. The medium by which they instruct will be different-online rather than in person. And online will be better. Students will learn from the world's best teachers of anatomy or microbiology, not professors who happen to teach at their medical school.I agree with Stoddard and Yim that education is social. Networking outside of class is integral to education. But imaginative solutions are possible. That social interactive component among preclinical students could occur in ways other than a medical school bringing students physically together in one city. Social media can link the preclinical students in a city, and they can have social interactions. Furthermore, interaction, "comradery and friendships," and in-person instruction will continue to occur, just focused during what I proposed as the extended, 5-year clinical sequence at medical schools.Over the years, important components of clinical trainingsuch as communication, professionalism, and ethics-have been added to the preclinical years. Nevertheless, at least 80% of preclinical time is spent on the foundational sciences. Moreover, what is taught in the preclinical years is not immutable. It can be reconfigured, beginning the clinical sequence with classes on this material.I disagree with Drs Everett and Muszynski that student competence is best determined by a uniform 4 years in school rather than formal evaluations of clinical skills. Surely over 5 years of clinical training, students will encounter "diverse situations" in which to hone their skills. The claim that competence is subjective and only recognized when seen seems to refute the very possibility of formal evaluations by medical and specialty boards of medical students and residents.
