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An Ophthalmology Virtual Externship during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study
Background The evolution of medical school curricula, characterized by truncated preclinical periods and reduced emphasis on ophthalmology, presents formidable obstacles to early exposure for aspiring medical students. The constraints imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic further exacerb...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.
2023
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10697793/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-1777412 |
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author | Dirani, Karim Tajran, Jahan Tur, Komalpreet Craig, Annmarie Freedman, Ryan L. Uddin, Niyaz Kim, Chaesik Ross, Bing X. Juzych, Mark S. Goyal, Anju |
author_facet | Dirani, Karim Tajran, Jahan Tur, Komalpreet Craig, Annmarie Freedman, Ryan L. Uddin, Niyaz Kim, Chaesik Ross, Bing X. Juzych, Mark S. Goyal, Anju |
author_sort | Dirani, Karim |
collection | PubMed |
description | Background The evolution of medical school curricula, characterized by truncated preclinical periods and reduced emphasis on ophthalmology, presents formidable obstacles to early exposure for aspiring medical students. The constraints imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic further exacerbated the limitations on opportunities, compelling the implementation of innovative initiatives aimed at augmenting students' ophthalmology education through virtual means. Purpose This article assesses the impact of an Ophthalmology Virtual Externship (OVE) on medical students' knowledge, interest, confidence, and seeking mentorship in ophthalmology. Materials and Methods A total of 76 students voluntarily participated in the program. The OVE encompassed four virtual sessions, facilitated by 4th year medical students employing a near-peer mentorship framework. The initiative was tailored for 2nd and 3rd year medical students and was conducted under the supervision of a faculty member. All participating students completed both pre- and postexternship surveys utilizing a 7-point Likert scale to gauge their levels of interest, confidence, and inclination toward mentorship opportunities in the field of ophthalmology. Furthermore, assessments of ophthalmology knowledge were administered prior to and subsequent to the externship participation. The degree of satisfaction derived from the OVE experience was also evaluated. Results Participation in the OVE significantly elevated confidence in knowledge ( p < 0.001) and mentorship interest ( p = 0.029). Ophthalmology knowledge test scores also notably improved post-OVE across all participants, irrespective of prior experience ( p < 0.001), with the most significant increase observed among 2nd and 3rd year students ( p < 0.0001). After OVE participation, 73% of students expressed intent to pursue ophthalmology opportunities, including mentorship or research. The OVE received an average Likert score of 6.35 out of 7 for student satisfaction. Conclusion The OVE serves as a virtual learning instrument beneficial for 2nd and 3rd year students with a proclivity for ophthalmology, offering a means to circumvent curriculum-related constraints. Moreover, given the decline in formal ophthalmic education, our study contributes to future research assessing the effectiveness of an OVE in addressing ophthalmic knowledge gaps among all medical students. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10697793 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106977932023-12-06 An Ophthalmology Virtual Externship during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study Dirani, Karim Tajran, Jahan Tur, Komalpreet Craig, Annmarie Freedman, Ryan L. Uddin, Niyaz Kim, Chaesik Ross, Bing X. Juzych, Mark S. Goyal, Anju J Acad Ophthalmol (2017) Background The evolution of medical school curricula, characterized by truncated preclinical periods and reduced emphasis on ophthalmology, presents formidable obstacles to early exposure for aspiring medical students. The constraints imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic further exacerbated the limitations on opportunities, compelling the implementation of innovative initiatives aimed at augmenting students' ophthalmology education through virtual means. Purpose This article assesses the impact of an Ophthalmology Virtual Externship (OVE) on medical students' knowledge, interest, confidence, and seeking mentorship in ophthalmology. Materials and Methods A total of 76 students voluntarily participated in the program. The OVE encompassed four virtual sessions, facilitated by 4th year medical students employing a near-peer mentorship framework. The initiative was tailored for 2nd and 3rd year medical students and was conducted under the supervision of a faculty member. All participating students completed both pre- and postexternship surveys utilizing a 7-point Likert scale to gauge their levels of interest, confidence, and inclination toward mentorship opportunities in the field of ophthalmology. Furthermore, assessments of ophthalmology knowledge were administered prior to and subsequent to the externship participation. The degree of satisfaction derived from the OVE experience was also evaluated. Results Participation in the OVE significantly elevated confidence in knowledge ( p < 0.001) and mentorship interest ( p = 0.029). Ophthalmology knowledge test scores also notably improved post-OVE across all participants, irrespective of prior experience ( p < 0.001), with the most significant increase observed among 2nd and 3rd year students ( p < 0.0001). After OVE participation, 73% of students expressed intent to pursue ophthalmology opportunities, including mentorship or research. The OVE received an average Likert score of 6.35 out of 7 for student satisfaction. Conclusion The OVE serves as a virtual learning instrument beneficial for 2nd and 3rd year students with a proclivity for ophthalmology, offering a means to circumvent curriculum-related constraints. Moreover, given the decline in formal ophthalmic education, our study contributes to future research assessing the effectiveness of an OVE in addressing ophthalmic knowledge gaps among all medical students. Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. 2023-12-05 /pmc/articles/PMC10697793/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-1777412 Text en The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License, which permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Dirani, Karim Tajran, Jahan Tur, Komalpreet Craig, Annmarie Freedman, Ryan L. Uddin, Niyaz Kim, Chaesik Ross, Bing X. Juzych, Mark S. Goyal, Anju An Ophthalmology Virtual Externship during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study |
title | An Ophthalmology Virtual Externship during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study |
title_full | An Ophthalmology Virtual Externship during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study |
title_fullStr | An Ophthalmology Virtual Externship during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study |
title_full_unstemmed | An Ophthalmology Virtual Externship during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study |
title_short | An Ophthalmology Virtual Externship during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study |
title_sort | ophthalmology virtual externship during the covid-19 pandemic: a pilot study |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10697793/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-1777412 |
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