key: cord-311403-rbia88vf
authors: Crawford, Andrew; Blitch, Alejandro; Lindsley, Janet E.; Dickerson, Ty T.
title: Embracing uncertainty: COVID‐19 exploration in real time
date: 2020-09-20
journal: Med Educ
DOI: 10.1111/medu.14320
sha: 
doc_id: 311403
cord_uid: rbia88vf

nan

COVID-19 disrupted the standard pathways for learning and professional development in medical education. However, it also created a direct interest in epidemiology, virology and immunology, inspiring a wide breadth of students to develop themselves during this crisis as future clinicians and disseminators of scientific information. Additionally, given the likely association between tolerating ambiguity and the psychological well-being of medical students and health care workers, 1 we hypothesised that communally embracing and exploring the uncertainty caused by the pandemic would support students in developing coping skills and preparing for the often uncertain nature of clinical medicine.

A four-week remote course titled COVID-19 Exploration in Real Time that explicitly acknowledged the limited evidence-based information and evolving nature of the pandemic was created.

Participants included medical students from every year, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty members. Contrary to traditional medical school courses where there is a definitive dichotomy between student and professor, this course embraced a more collaborative approach. Communal exploration of the crisis was encouraged during each class session, as students, physicians and scientists shared to enhance each other's understanding. Topics covered in the course included epidemiology, virology, immunology, pathology, clinical management, suppression and mitigation, special populations, mental health and ethics. Instructional methods combined pre-session readings, readiness quizzes, online forums and Zoom-based, expert-led discussions. Additionally, students created and updated their own epidemic curves for Utah and New York, requiring them to locate and critique currently available data in order to develop hypotheses about incubation periods, modes of transmission and curve projections.

Students expressed high levels of gratitude for the opportunity to participate in a course that was designed to face the unfolding and chaotic reality of COVID-19 together as a team. An unexpected outcome of the course was the sense of community that was created.

The discussions of the current crisis among all participants provided much-needed camaraderie to many students who were experiencing feelings of isolation due to loss of important interpersonal interactions among peers. This became especially apparent after a session in which mental health professionals invited students to share thoughts and feelings about how the current events were affecting them.

By exploring difficult topics with a class of interprofessional learners, students were able to gain insight from each other's unique perspectives. Due to the direct situational relevance of the crisis to every participant, we predict that students will retain a meaningful and enduring comprehension of concepts that can be extrapolated to their future experiences in medicine and science. Upon course completion, students expressed that they felt more prepared to deal with future health care crises.

The success of the COVID-19 Exploration in Real Time course suggests that medical education initiatives capitalising on current public health events can galvanise student interest and serve as a platform to reinforce important clinical concepts and professional identity formation. Portions of the course are currently being adapted to prepare medical students who will soon be transitioning to clerkships and clinical electives.

Tolerance of ambiguity and psychological well-being in medical training: a systematic review