552 - Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Student Performance

Poster Number: 552
Publication Number: 552.115

Erika R. Noel, University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, Ewa Beach, HI, United States; Loren G. Yamamoto, University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, HI, United States; Kyra Len, University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, HI, United States

Background: On March 13, 2020, the Association of American Medical Colleges provided guidelines recommending that medical schools pause clinical rotations for medical students. The University of Hawaii-John A. Burns School of Medicine was no different and there was a period of 7 weeks in which students had limited clinical exposure and learning was converted to virtual learning. Students were transitioned to virtual learning from March 16th until May 4, 2020. This virtual learning environment included online lectures by faculty, reviewing an oral case and virtual interactive pediatric cases.

Objective: To determine whether there was a significant difference in pediatric shelf examination scores, clerkship grades or step 2 scores amongst students who were placed on a virtual rotation during the COVID pandemic.

Design/Methods: A retrospective review of 3rd year medical students' pediatric shelf scores, clerkship grades, and step 2 scores was conducted for the academic year 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. Data from the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 were used as the comparative group.

Results: Thirty-nine out of 72 students in the 2019-2020 had a portion of their pediatric clerkship converted to a virtual rotation. In 2019-2020, there were no significant differences amongst students’ pediatric shelf scores (83.0 vs 82.5, p=NS, 0.75), clerkship grades (2.7 vs. 2.8, p=NS, 0.73), and step 2 scores (249.5 vs. 249.4, p=NS, 0.99) when comparing students who had the traditional clerkship to those who had a partial virtual rotation. However, as expected, students who participated in a virtual rotation saw significantly less patients than those who completed their Pediatric Clerkship prior to the pandemic (99.2 vs 75.9, p=0.006). There was a significant increase in step 2 scores for the class who had a portion of virtual rotations in the 2019-2020 academic year, in comparison to the two previous academic years (242.6 vs 249.4, p=0.0005).Conclusion(s): Despite seeing less patients, students whose pediatric clerkship were affected by the COVID pandemic did not have differences in their pediatric shelf, step 2, and clerkship grades compared to students who completed their pediatric clerkship prior to the pandemic. The increase in step 2 scores for students who had the partial virtual rotation raises the question of whether clinical experience or more study time is a better preparation method.
Erika Noel CVErika Noel CV.pdf