Language
English
Publication Date
11-1-2022
Journal
Southern Medical Journal
DOI
10.14423/SMJ.0000000000001464
PMID
36318945
PMCID
PMC9612410
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
11-1-2022
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic required a multifaceted response by healthcare professionals. Medical students played only a limited role in the early response, resulting in feelings of disengagement. The authors developed a discussion-based elective course reviewing the COVID-19 response to address this gap in medical student education.
METHODS: Preclinical medical students enrolled in this elective participated in weekly virtual interactive seminars led by expert faculty members. Students completed a final survey quantifying their understanding of the overall COVID-19 response, knowledge of its individual facets, and their feelings of personal engagement on a Likert scale from 1 to 5, with 5 representing the most understanding or engagement. The differences in mean scores on "precourse" and "postcourse" surveys were compared.
RESULTS: A total of 65 students enrolled in the elective. Students demonstrated significant improvement in perceived holistic understanding of the response of the medical field to the COVID-19 pandemic (P < 0.001) and in feelings of personal engagement with the pandemic (P < 0.001). In addition, students reported a significantly increased understanding of each facet of the pandemic response covered in the course (8 questions; all P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Preclinical medical student participation in a discussion-based seminar course reviewing the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased feelings of engagement with and understanding of the response of the medical field to the pandemic.
Keywords
Humans, Students, Medical, Pandemics, COVID-19, Curriculum, Education, Medical, COVID-19, curriculum development, public health, undergraduate medical education, virtual learning
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
, "Participation in a Longitudinal Seminar Series Increases Medical Student Engagement with the COVID-19 Pandemic" (2022). Faculty, Staff and Students Publications. 885.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/885