Abstract
ABSTRACT Background & Objective The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting cancellation of medical student clinical rotations pose unique challenges to students’ educations, the impact of which has not yet been explored. Design This cross-sectional survey study collected responses from 13 April 2020 until 30 April 2020. Students at US allopathic medical schools completed the survey online. Results 1,668 responses were analyzed. A total of 337 (20.2%) respondents thought the pandemic would affect their choice of specialty, with differences across class years: 15.2% (53) of first-years (MS1s), 26.4% (92) of second-years (MS2s), 23.7% (162) of third-years (MS3s), and 9.7% (22) of fourth-years (MS4s) (p < 0.0001). Among all classes, the most common reason chosen was inability to explore specialties of interest (244, 72.4%), and the second was inability to bolster their residency application (162, 48.1%). Out of the MS3s who chose the latter, the majority were concerned about recommendation letters (68, 81.0%) and away rotations (62, 73.8%). As high as 17.4% (119) of MS3s said they were more likely to take an extra year during medical school as a result of the pandemic. Region of the US, number of local COVID cases, and number of local COVID deaths had no effect on whether respondents thought the pandemic would affect their specialty choice. Conclusions Our study found that about one-fifth of surveyed medical students currently believe that the COVID-19 pandemic will affect their choice of specialty, with many of these citing concerns that they cannot explore specialties or obtain recommendation letters. With prolonged suspension of clinical rotations, targeted efforts by medical schools to address these concerns through enhanced virtual curriculum development and advising strategies will become increasingly important. Further study is needed to explore whether these cross-sectional student perspectives will manifest as changes in upcoming National Residency Matching Program data.
Highlights
The global pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 has caused unprecedented changes to almost every aspect of society, with social distancing orders taking effect across the USA (US) beginning in March 2020 [1,2]
This study aimed to provide a crosssectional view into the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on US medical students’ perception of their education and career development
Missouri New York Pennsylvania Ohio Maryland Georgia Texas Massachusetts New Hampshire Louisiana California Vermont Illinois Wisconsin Connecticut Virginia South Carolina North Dakota Utah Michigan Total aResponses from states with
Summary
The global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has caused unprecedented changes to almost every aspect of society, with social distancing orders taking effect across the USA (US) beginning in March 2020 [1,2]. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting cancellation of medical student clinical rotations pose unique challenges to students’ educations, the impact of which has not yet been explored. A total of 337 (20.2%) respondents thought the pandemic would affect their choice of specialty, with differences across class years: 15.2% (53) of first-years (MS1s), 26.4% (92) of second-years (MS2s), 23.7% (162) of third-years (MS3s), and 9.7% (22) of fourth-years (MS4s) (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Our study found that about one-fifth of surveyed medical students currently believe that the COVID-19 pandemic will affect their choice of specialty, with many of these citing concerns that they cannot explore specialties or obtain recommendation letters. With prolonged suspension of clinical rotations, targeted efforts by medical schools to address these concerns through enhanced virtual curriculum development and advising strategies will become increasingly important. Further study is needed to explore whether these crosssectional student perspectives will manifest as changes in upcoming National Residency Matching Program data
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