Flattening the Curve: Minimizing the Impact of COVID-19 on a Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Training Program

Abstract

A pandemic threatens to disrupt many aspects of a fellowship training program. The University of Washington pulmonary and critical care fellowship program was the first in the United States to encounter coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and it has had the luxury of having adequate staffing and resources to date. In response to questions and concerns from our fellows about the pandemic, our program prioritized patient care, effective communication, and efforts to support fellow well-being. Additional considerations for programs during a health crisis include impacts on clinical care, scheduling, training, and formal education programs. Although we continue to adapt to the needs of our fellows, these early lessons learned may be helpful to those who are just beginning to experience the repercussions of COVID-19.

Medical Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Restructuring didactics and clinical service to allow continued education in the face of significantly increased workload was one of the key challenges identified by Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship leadership early in the pandemic. 65 Hidden Curriculum…”

Celebrating 1 Year of ATS Scholar. Looking Back and Envisioning the Road Ahead

“…Practical manuscripts that could serve as “just-in-time” tools during clinical care, such as troubleshooting problems in the ventilated patient ( 15 ), were widely read and broadly shared on social media. We published opinion pieces on how training was impacted by COVID-19, including perspectives from the first fellowship in the United States that had to modify its training program because of COVID-19 ( 16 ) as well as an international view from a pulmonary fellowship program in Ireland ( 17 ). These experiences informed our community, as many had to make similar modifications in real time.…”

Learning without Borders: Asynchronous and Distance Learning in the Age of COVID-19 and Beyond

“…Core program didactics may also transition well to a remote platform. One of the benefits of the synchronous but remote format is that individuals not at that physical conference location can still participate and contribute, and at least some programs have seen evidence of increased conference attendance with this format change ( 24 ).…”