Villanueva Eric W, Meissner Hannah, Walters Ryan W
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago (NorthShore), Evanston, IL USA.
School of Medicine , Creighton University , NE Omaha, USA.
Med Sci Educ. 2021 Feb 5;31(2):589-598. doi: 10.1007/s40670-021-01223-z. eCollection 2021 Apr.
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, American medical schools made swift changes to clinical education based on guidelines provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The purpose of this study was to collect medical student perceptions of the solely online learning environment, their quality of life (QoL), and the pandemic response by their School of Medicine (SoM) to provide suggestions to inform medical schools' responses during the continuation of this pandemic and the next.
Between April 29, 2020 and May 16, 2020, the authors distributed a 60-item questionnaire that assessed demographics, learning environment, QoL, and the SoM response. Likert-type items were analyzed on an item-by-item basis, whereas themes were identified for open-ended questions.
A total of 330 medical students (of 632; 52.2%) responded. Those who responded had positive perceptions of the online learning environment with moderate QoL disruptions to concentration and sleep. Although most students perceived being able to contribute meaningfully to the healthcare setting, they viewed themselves as underutilized. Three themes encapsulated both positive and negative perceptions of the SoM's response-communication, learning environment, and empathy and support.
These findings provide insight into medical student perceptions of their learning environment and QoL as they acclimated to changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Results can help inform a SoM's response during the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as during future pandemics or crises. Follow-up surveys of medical students at multiple institutions across the USA and abroad will be essential to better characterize student perceptions.
为应对新冠疫情，美国医学院校根据美国医学院协会提供的指导方针，迅速对临床教育做出了改变。本研究的目的是收集医学生对纯在线学习环境、他们的生活质量（QoL）以及医学院（SoM）对疫情的应对措施的看法，以便提出建议，为医学院校在本次疫情持续期间及未来应对类似情况提供参考。
在2020年4月29日至2020年5月16日期间，作者分发了一份包含60个条目的问卷，该问卷评估了人口统计学信息、学习环境、生活质量以及医学院的应对措施。对李克特类型的条目进行逐一分析，而对开放式问题则确定其主题。
共有330名医学生（共632名；占52.2%）做出了回应。做出回应的学生对在线学习环境有积极的看法，但生活质量在注意力集中和睡眠方面受到了中度干扰。尽管大多数学生认为自己能够为医疗环境做出有意义的贡献，但他们觉得自己未得到充分利用。三个主题概括了对医学院应对措施的积极和消极看法——沟通、学习环境以及同理心和支持。
这些发现深入了解了医学生在适应新冠疫情带来的变化时对其学习环境和生活质量的看法。研究结果有助于为医学院在新冠疫情持续期间以及未来疫情或危机期间的应对措施提供参考。在美国国内外多个机构对医学生进行后续调查对于更好地了解学生的看法至关重要。
