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
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Humans, Students, Medical, Pandemics, COVID-19, Curriculum, Education, Medical, COVID-19, curriculum development, public health, undergraduate medical education, virtual learning
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.
Included in
Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons, Clinical Epidemiology Commons, COVID-19 Commons, Medical Education Commons, Medical Sciences Commons, Medical Specialties Commons, Respiratory Tract Diseases Commons
