Medical Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review

Abstract

Introduction - Many aspects of modern-day life have changed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including medical education. The objective of this review is to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on medical education and the challenges that have emerged globally. Methods - Literature research was conducted via PubMed database using the terms: "medical education" [Title/Abstract] and "covid19" [Title/Abstract] to locate relevant published articles. Results - A total of 89 articles met the inclusion criteria, 10 of which are included in this review. Thirteen additional articles provided useful information concerning the aim of this review. All of these articles described both the advances in medical education as well as the adoption of online-learning pedagogical methods to limit the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, a comparison between distance-based and in-person learning was conducted and the inequalities in education at the expense of low-income countries were highlighted. In any occasion, medical education is important and should be continuous and high quality. Conclusions - The COVID-19 era has undoubtedly affected medical training. For the continuation of high-quality medical education, alternative and innovative online methods have been used worldwide more often than in-person learning to minimize the spread of the virus. Thus, the medical educational system should adapt accordingly.