Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Biochem Mol Biol Educ. 2023 Sep-Oct;51(5):508-519. doi: 10.1002/bmb.21761. Epub 2023 Jun 24.
Graduate programs in medicine and biomedical sciences have been severely impacted by the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic over the last 2 years. Following 2 years since beginning of the pandemic, data on student support, educational and academic performance as well as sentiment on changes to educational programs are starting to emerge. We performed and compared results of two cross-sectional surveys of Swedish and U.S.-based medical and biomedical graduate students on how the pandemic has affected their studies, research productivity and career trajectory. Students were also asked to assess support provided by the university and supervisors. The surveys also captured student demographics and a range of other factors, such as pressures brought on by caretaking and financial responsibilities. We analyzed answers from 264 and 106 students attending graduate programs in universities in Sweden and the United States, respectively. U.S.-based students faced more severe restrictions on their research program compared to students in Sweden, reporting more delays in productivity, scientific output and graduation, and increased worries about their career trajectory. Swedish students had more caretaking responsibilities, although these did not cause any delays in graduation. While support by universities and supervisors was comparable between the countries, financial worries and mental health concerns were particularly prominent in the U.S. cohort. Student performance and outlook was hugely dependent on the breadth of the restrictions and the available support. Besides the governmental and university-led approach to counter the pandemic, societal differences also played a role in how well students were handling effects of the pandemic.
过去两年，SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 大流行严重影响了医学和生物医学研究生项目。大流行开始两年后，有关学生支持、教育和学术表现的数据以及对教育计划变化的看法开始出现。我们对瑞典和美国的医学和生物医学研究生进行了两项横断面调查，比较了大流行如何影响他们的学习、研究生产力和职业轨迹。学生们还被要求评估大学和导师提供的支持。调查还记录了学生的人口统计学信息和一系列其他因素，例如照顾和经济责任带来的压力。我们分析了分别在瑞典和美国大学就读研究生课程的 264 名和 106 名学生的回答。与瑞典学生相比，美国学生的研究计划受到更严格的限制，报告说生产力、科学产出和毕业的延迟更多，对职业轨迹的担忧也增加了。瑞典学生有更多的照顾责任，但这并没有导致毕业延迟。尽管两国的大学和导师提供的支持相当，但美国学生的财务担忧和心理健康问题尤为突出。学生的表现和前景在很大程度上取决于限制的范围和可用的支持。除了政府和大学主导的应对大流行的方法外，社会差异也在学生应对大流行影响的能力方面发挥了作用。
