Homeschooling for Quarantined Residents: A Virtual Back to the Basics Curriculum

Abstract

Introduction The COVID 19 pandemic resulted in local and institutional restrictions with significant effects on the clinical environment for graduate medical education, displacing residents from non-emergency medicine (EM) based rotations. Additionally, resident physicians considered patients under investigation (PUI) were furloughed from clinical practice. The necessity for supplemental learning in a virtual setting prompted the development of an online homeschooling curriculum that incorporated back to the basics textbook learning, application, and retention via virtual sessions for the quarantined and furloughed learners. Methods An online homeschooling curriculum was developed to replace the cancelled clinical experiences for EM residents and for those who were quarantined utilizing Google Classroom and Zoom teleconference software. After completion of their quarantine or return to normal rotation schedule, residents were asked to evaluate the homeschooling curriculum using an anonymous survey. Results A total of 12 residents participated in the homeschooling program over eight weeks during the spring of 2020. Of the nine residents surveyed, 88.8% percent felt the homeschooling added to their knowledge of EM, 100% found the online format easy to use, and 88.8% stated it helped maintain a sense of social connection to peers and faculty. Conclusion An online homeschooling program was considered an effective means of providing an opportunity for synchronous and continuous education for EM resident physicians. This program could be sustainable long term to fill in knowledge gaps or supplement remediation in emergency resident education, post pandemic.