The Impact of COVID-19 on Clerkship Preparedness in Third Year Medical Students

Abstract

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presented a unique challenge to medical education, as students were abruptly required to adapt to a remote learning format. Previous studies show a decline in examination performance among medical students during their initial semester of the pandemic, relative to pre-COVID cohorts. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether such negative outcomes affected medical students’ preparedness for clerkship training. Methods: Medical students at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, consisting of both third-year students who completed pre-clinical training amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and fourth-year students from the pre-pandemic cohort, were administered a Qualtrics survey to assess their perceived preparedness for clerkship training. Students’ confidence in key clinical skills were measured, such as taking patient histories, conducting physical exams, and communicating with medical staff. Students rated the relative importance of didactic lectures versus experiential learning for clerkship preparation. Performance on National Board of Medical Examiners shelf examinations were compared. Results: There was a significant difference in perception of disadvantage prior to starting clerkships between the COVID-cohort and their pre-COVID counterparts (mean ratings of 4.3/5 vs. 3.4/5). A greater proportion of the COVID cohort deemed experiential learning as more important than didactic lectures (37.5% vs. 62.5%) as opposed to the pre-COVID cohort which considered didactic lectures as more important (53.2% vs. 46.8%). This difference in perception did not translate to a significant difference in academic performance in the six NBME subject exams taken: Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Surgery. Conclusion: The implementation of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a significant impact on the self-perceived preparedness for clerkship training among medical students. Despite the perception of disadvantage among students who matriculated during the pandemic, overall levels of preparedness do not appear to be affected by the shift to remote instruction. This may be due to a phenomenon the authors deem as the “Grass is Greener,” where individuals perceive that they have missed out on resources that were given to others.