Medical Education During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic: Learning From a Distance

Abstract

As paradigms of clinical care delivery have been significantly impacted by the novel coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic, so has the structure, delivery, and future of medical education. Both undergraduate and graduate medical education have seen disruptions ranging from fully virtual delivery of educational content and limited clinical care for medical students to increased clinical demands with redeployment for residents and fellows. Adherence to social distancing has led to the adoption and implementation of already available technologies in medical education, including video conferencing softwares and social media platforms. Efficient and effective use of these technologies requires an understanding not only of these platforms and their features but also of their inherent limitations. During a time of uncertainty and increased clinical demands, the approach to medical education must be thoughtful with attention to wellness of both the educator and learner. In this review, we discuss the influence of the pandemic on the existing medical education landscape, outline existing and proposed adaptations to social distancing, and describe challenges that lie ahead.

Shared Living Experiences by Physicians have a Positive Impact on Mental Health Attitudes and Stigma among Medical Students: A Mixed-Methods Study

“…Our resort to this means of content delivery is not new, 36 and follows other medical specialties that adapted rapidly to the limitations brought on by the pandemic. 37 However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically assess the delivery of emotionally charged and personal content through this format, an initiative that can be construed under the label of virtual wellness . Indeed, we found that collaboratively engaging in candid conversations about sensitive topics in this setting was not only feasible, but may have had unique advantages: (1) No back row : every student was faced-forward and given a level playing field, with no eager students up front while others hid in the back; (2) A portal to the personal : students and instructors were framed in the revealing setting of their natural home environment, creating a unique opportunity to get to know each other in a more intimate way, one that was conducive to openness (in the words of a participant, “it did make a big difference, even something as small as when the doctor picked up the laptop and walked over to show us a really messy home office.…”

Investigating COVID-19 Crisis Influence on Universities’ Websites Content in Egypt

“…To conclude, no sector was not influenced by COVID-19 crisis yet with different degrees. Such as the examination of COVID-19 pandemic impacts on a medical education sector by (Hilburg et al, 2020). This is going in the same direction as what was provided by Mehta & Wang (2020), they indicated that services associated with education had a share of change in the COVID-19 periods.…”

“…The universities' interest in keeping their websites updated during the crisis time was observed. This crisis affected the education system, as explained by (Hilburg et al, 2020), also in this period, distance education had an impact on students and teachers (Kennedy & Ferdig, 2018), No doubt that being responsive and developing well-structured managing and mitigating plans are essential. This is aligned with the fact of most universities developed plans to deal with emergencies as mentioned by (Izumi, 2020).…”

“…Even though the novelty of the COVID-19 pandemic, its significant impact on the medical education sector was studied by (Hilburg et al, 2020). The writers reported that COVID-19 tackled both the organization and delivery of medical education on undergraduate and graduate levels.…”

“…COVID-19 became a hot research interest that encourages researchers to investigate its effect in different aspects of life. Among the newly conducted research considering COVID-19 in medical education, (Hilburg, et al, 2020), this research described the variances before and during the crisis. The reported disruption required to transfer to distance learning, virtual tools adoption, and offer training to sector juniors.…”