Changes and strategies of medical education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The health contingency due to COVID-19 caused social distancing measures that drastically altered the way how daily activities are carried out, including education. The students moved from having educational activities in a face-to-face format to a completely virtual scenario, which generated concern among authorities, teachers, and students about how to best achieve the theoretical and practical skills medical education requires. Consequently, the emergence and application of various virtual platforms, software applications, and digital technologies in the medical curricula have emerged as appropriate methods to prepare future physicians.

To describe the changes and strategies in undergraduate and graduate medical education during the pandemic, a systematic review that cover 205 articles was conducted. It describes the implementation of videoconferencing platforms and virtual classrooms that synchronously and asynchronously cover theoretical knowledge, 3D programs, and virtual simulators to put into practice clinical skills since cancellation of clerkships and reduction of elective procedures decreased practical training. Clinical activities mostly focus on work in COVID areas and intensive care units, telemedicine, training on the proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and management of COVID patients. Finally, different research activities are performed remotely, and students have access to mental health services.

Therefore, despite the pandemic has posed a great challenge in complying with educational programs due to the difficulty of replacing the experience of patient interaction and having adequate access to electronic devices with good connectivity, the adoption of new virtual tools has helped sustain medical education and marks an inflection point in the ways medicine will be taught and practiced in the future.