Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 6, 2020; 8(15): 3136-3141
Published online Aug 6, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i15.3136
Impacts and challenges of United States medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic
Stacey Rolak, Alexis M Keefe, Emily L Davidson, Prabesh Aryal, Sandesh Parajuli
Stacey Rolak, Alexis M Keefe, Emily L Davidson, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53705, United States
Prabesh Aryal, College of Medicine, Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Sandesh Parajuli, Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53705, United States
Author contributions: Parajuli S and Rolak S contributed to study concept and design; Keefe AM, Parajuli S and Rolak S wrote the paper; Davidson EL and Aryal P contributed to the figure.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Stacey Rolak, BSc, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, No. 1685 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, United States. srolak@wisc.edu
Received: May 8, 2020
Peer-review started: May 11, 2020
First decision: June 15, 2020
Revised: June 22, 2020
Accepted: July 23, 2020
Article in press: July 23, 2020
Published online: August 6, 2020
Processing time: 89 Days and 14.3 Hours
Abstract

The delivery of medical student education has changed rapidly during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Students in their pre-clinical years have transitioned to online courses and examinations. Students in their clinical years are not permitted on clinical rotations, and face uncertainties in career exploration and the residency application process. Medical students in all stages of training are volunteering and helping their communities. The future presence of COVID-19 throughout the United States is unknown, and medical students are eager to return to their training. This paper outlines current challenges in medical student education and the various responses that have been adopted. We also discuss possible future directions for students through involvement in telemedicine, outpatient clinic visits, and non-respiratory inpatient care tasks as adequate personal protective equipment, COVID-19 testing, and resources become more widely available.

Keywords: COVID-19; Education; Medical students; Telemedicine; Healthcare delivery; Schools

Core tip: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has temporarily changed medical student education. Continuous reassessment of clinical policies and guidelines is paramount in guiding medical education back to normalcy. Improved access to personal protective equipment, testing, and safety resources should allow medical students to regain their roles on medical teams. Further integration of telemedicine into school curricula could help mitigate educational disruptions during the ongoing pandemic.