Key lessons from pandemic-era virtual education for med students
When it comes to medical student education, COVID led to unprecedented disruption — but it also led to unprecedented innovation. The pandemic shattered all existing paradigms and preconceptions about what was possible, forcing educators to reimagine the traditional medical school learning experience and embrace digital learning tools.
Some of those adaptations and adjustments made over the past two-plus years may be worth keeping, conclude Ashley Park, MS, and Omar A. Awan, MD, both of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in a paper published in Academic Radiology.
“Studies show that virtual teaching has advantages, such as accessibility of resources and flexibility. Making physical study materials available online enabled students to access them at the time and place of their preference, which encouraged more self-motivated asynchronous learning,” the authors write.
Additionally, the paper notes, virtual learning platforms allowed top medical specialists to speak with large numbers of students, absent of constraints related to cost and location.
Of course, not everything about virtual learning is ideal. Specifically, the authors highlight technical difficulties and the loss of face-to-face interaction as key disadvantages which prevent students from achieving key competencies before entering residency.
“The transition from preclinical years to clinical years was negatively impacted due to disrupted teaching of anatomy and basic patient interviewing and physical examination skills.”
For some students, virtual learning also resulted in difficulty maintaining focus, reduced communication, and feelings of isolation, anxiety or stress.
To build on the aspects of virtual learning that work well while blunting possible negative impacts, the authors suggest a number of strategies for more effective virtual learning in the future.
Those strategies include:
- Advanced preparation for lectures: Presenters and attendees should log in to the virtual meeting platform in advance and check their audio settings to prevent delays and technical difficulties. Presenters should offer a clear outline of the presentation, including an agenda or learning objectives, and should include supporting visuals, the authors suggested.
- A “flipped classroom model”: Having students complete an assignment prior to a virtual class session can both enhance student engagement and allow teachers to use classroom time for presenting higher-order knowledge and answering questions.
- Incorporating software: Certain software tools, like those that allow the audience to respond to multiple choice or open-ended questions, can help increase engagement and confirm that students have an accurate understanding of the material being presented. Other potential uses of software in the virtual classroom include software that simulates a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), or mobile applications that quiz students on topics like anatomic structures or common pathologies.
- Increased simulation learning: Virtual clinical simulations using live actors offer opportunities for real-time assessment using realistic cases. Students also found activities like virtual ward rounds and virtual morning reports highly relevant.
An awareness of what worked during the pandemic, what didn’t, and useful strategies for the future offers both an opportunity and a responsibility, the authors noted.
“Thinking outside of the box to maximize student motivation to learn through various teaching modalities and engagement with patients, real or virtual, to simulate in-person clerkships is an important responsibility of course directors.”
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