key: cord-0955882-3ooeau2g authors: Kinder, Florence; Byrne, Matthew H.V. title: Medical Students Are Essential to Nonclinical Medical Education Research During COVID-19 date: 2022-04-27 journal: Acad Med DOI: 10.1097/acm.0000000000004610 sha: eac4df022daebdbc7efe619b7ada97fd3b0afed6 doc_id: 955882 cord_uid: 3ooeau2g nan Based on our positive experiences, we encourage other institutions to emulate CREW in transitioning medical students from liaisons to active contributors. We recommend holding an open call to recruit passionate students, developing faculty to work collaboratively with students as cocreators, and offering equal opportunities for students and faculty to design curriculum. Finally, we find that replacing the academic formality typical of medical education with respectful collegial communication has been invaluable to establishing a productive and psychologically safe learning environment. We feel fortunate to participate in CREW at this time, because we will see the results of our cocreation in action. With our participation in curriculum design thus far, we have experienced professional and interpersonal growth. As the new curriculum is implemented, we hope to serve as its ambassadors, encouraging active student engagement while continuing our development as future physicians. during the COVID-19 pandemic. 1 We would argue students have played a beneficial role in nonclinical research as well. In September 2020, we created the MedEd Collaborative with the aim of providing students, trainees, and earlycareer researchers with opportunities to continue their development of research skills and to increase research capacity during the pandemic. Supervision is provided by advisory members who are senior lecturers in medical education. We followed existing guidance on creating research collaboratives 2 and recruited members through social media and medical school contacts. Our projects represent over 2,000 experiences of student clinical assistance during the pandemic, involving more than 40 student collaborators across the United Kingdom. Students have gained experience performing literature reviews, 3 focus groups, surveys, 4 qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and writing. 5 To the Editor: Reciting an oath is a common practice for entering medical students at all allopathic and osteopathic medical schools. 1 Typically, medical students stand together in a large auditorium and recite the oath together during their white coat ceremony. The oath represents a combination of values that emphasize the humanitarian aspects of medicine and officially welcomes students into the profession. Is reciting a standardized oath the best way to bring students into medicine? According to one short survey, some residents only remembered the general themes of "do no harm" and "help the sick," while others did not recall any principles from their oath. 2 When examining the content, most oaths contain important concepts, such as protecting patient confidentiality, but key principles may still be missed, like prohibiting discrimination. 3 More importantly, everyone has a personalized journey to medicine, and the values that each person considers crucial may differ. To address these challenges, medical schools should offer a more customizable oath for entering medical students. Notably, the humanitarian values of being a physician should still be emphasized given these form the core of the profession. 1 Students should also be able to personalize their oath with additional items based on their perspectives and values. Previous precedent exists for personalizing oaths, as the Hippocratic Oath was customized by students and faculty at Bristol University in 1996 according to their perspectives on the traits and practices required of physicians. 4 Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic calls for more relevant and updated topics to be addressed. For example, the changing landscape of medical education due to the pandemic emphasizes key issues, including the importance of adaptability and resilience in uncertain times. 5 Overall, greater customizability of oaths will ensure they become more memorable, meaningful, and impactful than the oaths in their current standardized form. Funding/Support: None reported. Oath taking at U.S. and Canadian medical school ceremonies: Historical perspectives, current practices, and future considerations The Hippocratic Oath and medical students Content analyses of oaths administered at U.S. medical schools in 2000 Is the Hippocratic oath still relevant to practising doctors today? :e7492. school: Evaluating the educational impact of participation in a student-led national collaborative study The following members of the MedEd Collaborative Steering Committee were responsible for project development and delivery and critically reviewed the manuscript draft: Megan E.L. Brown, Laith Alexander, JonathanThe authors have informed the journal that they agree that F. Kinder and M.H.V. Byrne completed the intellectual and other work typical of the first author.Other disclosures: None reported.Ethical approval: Reported as not applicable. Fourth-year medical student, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois; shahzeb.hassan@northwestern.edu. Third-year medical student, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois. Third-year medical student, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.