Impact of COVID-19 on Canadian Medical Education: Pre-clerkship and Clerkship Students Affected Differently

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has altered the undergraduate learning experience for many students across Canada. Medical education is no exception; clinical programs, in-person lectures, and mandatory hands-on activities have been suspended to adhere to social distancing guidelines. As remote teaching becomes the forefront of education, medical curricula have been forced to adapt accordingly in order to fulfill the core competencies of medical training and to provide quality education to medical students. With that in mind, the COVID-19 crisis offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the current “continuity plans” in medical education as they stand. This paper provides the perspective of medical students on how medical education is changing for both pre-clerkship and clerkship students, using their experience at McGill University as an example for the Canadian medical education system. Additionally, we discuss the accommodations put forth by the undergraduate medical education (UGME) office, and reflect on the limitations and sustainable solutions in supporting quality medical education.

Student support systems for undergraduate medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic narrative review of the literature

“…Except for some included studies, the majority of reports were not explicitly designed to investigate outcomes of the devised support strategies and merely described the innovations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more context-appropriate support mechanisms are required to lessen the burden on the students and better prepare for similar future situations [ 37 , 38 ]. COVID-19-related deaths and morbidities, as well as protective policies implemented by authorities such as social distancing and cessation of in-person activities, have affected mental health negatively and, as a result, led to psychological problems among students [ 16 – 19 , 39 – 41 ].…”

“…Considering that physical distancing is an effective method to prevent the spread of the disease, medical schools are forced to use online and virtual strategies to support students. This sudden change in the way students are educated will undoubtedly give rise to many problems for universities [ 37 ]. Therefore, the service delivery infrastructure in medical schools is bound to change, and further research should be done to determine and assess novel ways of providing support to students.…”

Evaluating knowledge and skill in surgery clerkship during covid 19 pandemics: A single-center experience in Indonesia

“…COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the medical education curriculum system in particular clinical learning aspect [ 5 ]. The academic health institution has a specific scheme to solve the clerkship problem by postponing and transforming online modules and tutorials [ 6 , 7 ]. In our institution, surgical clerkship was combined between virtual tutorial and clinical rotation.…”

The effect of COVID-19 on medical students’ education and wellbeing: a cross-sectional survey

“…With the highly compacted nature of medical curriculums, a dire need to find alternate teaching methods to compensate for the loss of in-person large group lectures and in-hospital teaching resulted in a quick shift to online teaching platforms. While previous studies have examined the effects of the current pandemic on medical education, 3 there is a paucity in data with regards to Canadian medical students' perception of the novel online curriculums and how this form of learning compares to the traditional method of medical education.…”