How the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Medical Education during the Last Year of Medical School: A Class Survey

• Published in: Life (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-03, Vol.11 (4), p.294
• Main Authors: Franklin, Gillian, Martin, Clare, Ruszaj, Marc, Matin, Maliyat, Kataria, Akaash, Hu, Jinwei, Brickman, Arlen, Elkin, Peter L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquifers; Careers; Colleges & universities; Core curriculum; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Curricula; Disease control; Distance learning; E-learning; Education; Environmental education; Gynecology; Health care; Learning; Learning programs; Medical education; Medical schools; Medical students; Medicine; novel coronavirus disease 2019; Obstetrics; Online instruction; Pandemics; Patients; Polls & surveys; Schools; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Skills; Social distancing; Students; Surgery; telehealth; Telemedicine; Telesurgery; Viral diseases
• ISSN: 2075-1729; 2075-1729
• DOI: 10.3390/life11040294

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the medical education platform for students in the United States of America (USA). In that light, medical schools had to rapidly rearrange the dynamics of their educational curricula from the traditional platforms, to incorporate telemedicine. The telemedicine platform is supported in many specialties, allowing students various options to continue their education without interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond. Telemedicine platforms are projected to grow exponentially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing a segue for medical schools to modify their curricula by incorporating telemedicine programs. These distant-, e-learning (tele-education) programs align with the recommendations and guidelines for practicing social distancing. In this article, we surveyed fourth-year medical students to better understand their views on multiple aspects of e-learning, and its impact on their medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed the medical students' experiences, satisfaction, insight and knowledge with e-learning, tele-education, telehealth, and their related modalities during COVID-19. We provide an organized overview and analysis of the main factors that influence medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic, while bringing forth the main challenges, limitations, and emerging approaches in the field of telemedicine and its application as it relates to medical education and e-learning across medical specialties. We outline the main themes and ideas that the medical students voiced, as to how their medical education is being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and how they will incorporate telemedicine and tele-education in their future career. A cross-sectional, mixed-method survey was developed and distributed via Google Surveys to 181 University at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, United States of America, 4th year medical students, in December 2020. Results were compiled and analyzed after a 6-day open period for responses to be submitted. The survey instrument consisted of questions that inquire about the students' perspectives as it relates to their rapid switch from their traditional method of learning to the on-line version of medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 65 students responded to the survey, of which 63 completed the survey. More than half of the students ( = 63, 57%) indicated that both their specialty o