Abstract
BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presented the world with a sudden need for additional medical professionals. Senior medical students were identified as potential workers and many worldwide graduated early to serve as Junior Physicians in hospitals. The authors sought to identify factors that informed the decision to work, describe experiences in this capacity, and elucidate benefits for trainees.MethodsThe investigators conducted a mixed-methods observational cohort study of early medical graduates eligible to work as Junior Physicians at two New York medical centers in April/May 2020 during an initial surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations. Graduates were surveyed, and a sample of Junior Physicians participated in a focus group. Survey responses of those who worked were compared to those who did not. Focus group responses were transcribed, coded, and thematically analyzed.ResultsFifty-nine graduates completed the study methods and 39 worked as Junior Physicians. Primary reasons for working included duty to help (39 [100%]), financial incentive (32 [82%]), desire to learn about pandemic response (25 [64%]), and educational incentive (24 [62%]). All had direct contact with COVID-19 patients, believed working was beneficial to their medical training, and were glad they worked. None contracted a symptomatic infection while working. Compared with non-Junior Physicians, Junior Physicians reported increased comfort levels in completing medical intern-level actions like transitions of care functions, such as writing transfer notes (P < 0.01), writing discharge orders (P = 0.01), and providing verbal sign out (P = 0.05), and they reported more comfort in managing COVID-19 patients. Sixteen themes emerged from the focus group and were placed into four categories: development of skills, patient care, safety, and wellness.ConclusionsSenior medical students chose to work as Junior Physicians for both personal and educational reasons. Experiences were beneficial to trainees and can inform future innovations in medical education.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presented the world with a sudden need for additional medical professionals
We conducted a mixed-methods observational cohort study employing multiple surveys and a focus group of early medical student graduates eligible to work at NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island (NYUW, Mineola, NY, USA; formerly known as NYU Winthrop Hospital) and Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH, Stony Brook, NY, USA) during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York
Graduates from other local medical schools who had matched to NYUW for their graduate medical education were offered a Junior Physicians (JP) position at NYUW under certain circumstances and eligible for inclusion if they worked as JPs (n = 3)
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presented the world with a sudden need for additional medical professionals. The New York metropolitan area was one of the first and most affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States, calling for an immediate need for additional physicians and medical professionals to serve the community. This resulted in deployment of providers to New York from out of state, reassignment of medical personnel from other specialties, and innovative utilization of medical trainees in several capacities [1].
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