The Influence of COVID-19 on Medical Student Resource Preferences

Introduction Over the past decade, pre-clerkship medical education has shifted from solely relying on didactic lectures to implementing more group learning and clinical experience to promote individualized, self-directed, and patient-centered education. COVID-19 required medical schools to examine their curricula and determine which portions were adaptable to virtual learning. This study compared first-year medical students’ (MS1) perceptions of an online curriculum, focusing on the students’ preferred resources before and after the transition to virtual courses. Materials and methods At one community-based allopathic medical school, a decision was made to move the entire pre-clerkship curriculum to a virtual format in the setting of the pandemic. An end-of-course survey evaluation was distributed via email to 64 first-year medical students at a community-based allopathic medical school. The participants were asked numerous questions about their overall perceptions of each course, including questions about the usefulness of lectures, small group activities, course administration, and faculty communication. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected during the standard program evaluation process for the two courses, and a third survey that focused on learning resources asked questions regarding virtual learning. Results Of the students, 29.7% reported being disappointed with the virtual curriculum, while the other 70.3% reported an unchanged or improved overall medical education. Regarding resource preferences, 56.5% of the students viewed most (76%-100%) course lectures, while 35.5% of the students viewed less than half of the course lectures. In contrast, 75.8% of the students said the majority (>50%) of their learning comes from outside resources. Furthermore, 31% reported that they are satisfied with the resources provided by the school, while 42% reported that they would like the school to provide additional resources. With that being said, 61% reported using more outside resources with the onset of a virtual curriculum, while 34% reported no change in outside resource use. Only 2% reported using fewer outside resources. Conclusion This study found that pre-clerkship medical students preferred some aspects of the in-person setting, such as social interaction and clinical exposure that is lacking in the virtual setting. However, students preferred many aspects of the virtual setting, such as having more independent study time and a more efficient learning process. Overall, before and after the transition, students were less satisfied with traditional curricular resources and more likely to choose external, board-specific resources with hopes of building strong residency applications, and these preferences were heightened in the online format.