Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, 1001 Potrero Avenue, Building 5, Room #6A4, San Francisco, California, 94110, USA.
University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, USA.
BMC Med Educ. 2021 Jan 6;21(1):14. doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02462-1.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the United States (US) medical education system with the necessary, yet unprecedented Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) national recommendation to pause all student clinical rotations with in-person patient care. This study is a quantitative analysis investigating the educational and psychological effects of the pandemic on US medical students and their reactions to the AAMC recommendation in order to inform medical education policy.
The authors sent a cross-sectional survey via email to medical students in their clinical training years at six medical schools during the initial peak phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey questions aimed to evaluate students' perceptions of COVID-19's impact on medical education; ethical obligations during a pandemic; infection risk; anxiety and burnout; willingness and needed preparations to return to clinical rotations.
Seven hundred forty-one (29.5%) students responded. Nearly all students (93.7%) were not involved in clinical rotations with in-person patient contact at the time the study was conducted. Reactions to being removed were mixed, with 75.8% feeling this was appropriate, 34.7% guilty, 33.5% disappointed, and 27.0% relieved. Most students (74.7%) agreed the pandemic had significantly disrupted their medical education, and believed they should continue with normal clinical rotations during this pandemic (61.3%). When asked if they would accept the risk of infection with COVID-19 if they returned to the clinical setting, 83.4% agreed. Students reported the pandemic had moderate effects on their stress and anxiety levels with 84.1% of respondents feeling at least somewhat anxious. Adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) (53.5%) was the most important factor to feel safe returning to clinical rotations, followed by adequate testing for infection (19.3%) and antibody testing (16.2%).
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the education of US medical students in their clinical training years. The majority of students wanted to return to clinical rotations and were willing to accept the risk of COVID-19 infection. Students were most concerned with having enough PPE if allowed to return to clinical activities.
COVID-19 大流行扰乱了美国（美国）医学教育系统，美国医学协会（AAMC）提出了必要的、史无前例的全国建议，暂停所有医学生与患者直接接触的临床实习。本研究是一项定量分析，旨在调查大流行对美国医学生的教育和心理影响，以及他们对 AAMC 建议的反应，以为医学教育政策提供信息。
作者在 COVID-19 大流行的初始高峰期，向六所医学院处于临床培训阶段的医学生发送了一份横断面调查电子邮件。调查问题旨在评估学生对 COVID-19 对医学教育影响的看法；大流行期间的道德义务；感染风险；焦虑和倦怠；重返临床实习的意愿和所需准备。
741 名（29.5%）学生作出了回应。在研究进行时，几乎所有学生（93.7%）都没有参与有患者接触的临床实习。对被移除的反应是混合的，75.8%的人认为这是合适的，34.7%的人感到内疚，33.5%的人感到失望，27.0%的人感到宽慰。大多数学生（74.7%）认为大流行严重扰乱了他们的医学教育，并认为他们应该在大流行期间继续进行正常的临床实习（61.3%）。当被问及如果返回临床环境，他们是否愿意承担感染 COVID-19 的风险时，83.4%的人表示同意。学生报告说，大流行对他们的压力和焦虑水平有中度影响，84.1%的受访者感到至少有些焦虑。充足的个人防护设备（PPE）（53.5%）是返回临床实习感到安全的最重要因素，其次是足够的感染检测（19.3%）和抗体检测（16.2%）。
COVID-19 大流行扰乱了美国医学生在临床培训年的教育。大多数学生希望返回临床实习，并愿意接受感染 COVID-19 的风险。如果允许学生返回临床活动，他们最关心的是有足够的个人防护设备。
