Learning Strategies and Innovations among Medical Students in the Philippines during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Trisha Denise Cedeño,Noreen Marielle Uy,Kimberly Ramos,Ian Christopher Rocha

doi:10.5195/ijms.2021.908

Trisha Denise Cedeño, Noreen Marielle Uy + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2021.908

Copy DOI

Abstract

This paper highlights the experience of graduating medical students or clinical clerks in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, clinical clerks are supposed to be having their actual face-to-face patient encounters in the hospital setting. It is during the clinical clerkship, the final year of a four-year medical degree program, that a medical student applies his or her theoretical knowledge in practice. However, due to the pandemic, changes needed to be done in order to ensure continuous learning despite having to have little to no contact with actual patients. Hence, in this paper, various learning strategies and innovations have been presented to give examples of how Filipino medical students or clinical clerks tried to cope and adapt with the changes in the mode of learning in the medical field.

Highlights

As of February 10, 2021, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread across 219 countries and territories around the world, with 106,321,987 confirmed cases worldwide[1] and 541,560 confirmed cases in the Philippines,[2] since it was initially identified in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019.3 Due to increasing cases, many countries have imposed preventive measures to contain the virus which include the closure of schools, colleges, and universities.[4,5,6,7] accessible and available, giving rise to various improvisations
In the Philippines, a 4-year Doctor of Medicine program consists of 3 academic years and 1 clinical year, which is the clinical clerkship.[16]
Students were advised to fulfill their educational requirements during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) period

Summary

Introduction

As of February 10, 2021, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread across 219 countries and territories around the world, with 106,321,987 confirmed cases worldwide[1] and 541,560 confirmed cases in the Philippines,[2] since it was initially identified in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019.3 Due to increasing cases, many countries have imposed preventive measures to contain the virus which include the closure of schools, colleges, and universities.[4,5,6,7] accessible and available, giving rise to various improvisations. We were excited to practice the theoretical knowledge we learned in school by undertaking rounds and meeting actual patients. The Filipino spirit of resilience persevered as we adapted to the constant changes, completed all the academic requirements, and we were promoted as clinical clerks in May 2020. Students were advised to fulfill their educational requirements during the ECQ period.

Results

Conclusion