Guiding principles for undergraduate medical education in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

As the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City's medical schools experienced dramatic disruptions in every aspect of medical education. Remote learning was created, seemingly overnight, clerkships were disrupted, licensing examinations were cancelled, teaching faculty were redeployed, student volunteers rallied, and everyone was required to shelter at home. Seismic changes were required to adapt the authors' educational programs to a constantly evolving, unpredictable, and ever-worsening public health crisis. Entirely new communication strategies were adopted and thousands of decisions had to be made, often with little time to carefully reflect on the consequences of those decisions. What allowed each school to navigate these treacherous waters was a set of guiding principles that were used to ground each conversation, and inform every decision. While the language varied somewhat between schools, the core principles were universal and framed a way forward at a time when information, data, precedent, and best practices did not exist. The authors share these guiding principles in the hope that colleagues at other medical schools will find them to be a useful framework as we all continue to cope with the impact of COVID-19 on the future of medical education.

Barriers to Online Learning in the Time of COVID-19: A National Survey of Medical Students in the Philippines

“…For comparison, academic medical centers in Singapore had clearly laid out allowable undergraduate education activities and assessments depending on their pandemic alert level [51]. In New York, medical schools formulated a strategic plan that allowed students to complete graduation requirements on time and facilitated early transition to residency [2]. Communication channels needed improvement.…”

“…During the early part of 2020, when little was known about the disease and no effective treatment or vaccine was available, medical schools in different countries had to suspend classroom teaching and remove students from their clinical placements [1]. These drastic measures intended to ensure safety of learners and educators [2], curb viral transmission in higher education institutions and hospitals [3], conserve personal protective equipment for essential staff [4], and reduce the teaching load of physicians deployed at the pandemic's frontlines [5]. To sustain medical education, it became necessary for medical schools to pivot to online learning-also called e-learning, web-based learning, or internet-based learning [6,7]-as their primary means of curriculum delivery.…”

The Challenges of Modular Learning in the Wake of COVID-19: A Digital Divide in the Philippine Countryside Revealed

“…This pandemic has disrupted all levels of education worldwide [2], suspending classroom teaching in almost all schools throughout the world [3,4]. This disruption in classes was intended to ensure the safety of students and educators [5] and curb viral transmission in higher education institutions. In the Philippines, classes at all levels were suspended in mid-March of 2020, when the Philippine government ordered the lockdown of its largest island Luzon and other major cities [6].…”

Impact of COVID-19 on School Populations and Associated Factors: A Systematic Review

“…In the vocational education and training field, the disruption mostly occurred when schools were forced to provide hands-on practical training using virtual tools and machines through online communication platforms [ 11 ]. Considered as the most affected area among all educational fields, medical education had to pause its most essential practical learning domain, i.e., clinical learning experience [ 12 ]. In Malaysia, teacher preparedness and competency in conducting virtual learning and student access to virtual learning were still major issues that have yet to be solved [ 13 ].…”