Surgery Clerkship Directors' Perceptions of the COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact on Medical Student Education

This study assessed the national impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the education of medical students assigned to surgery clerkship rotations, as reported by surgery clerkship directors (CDs).

In the spring of 2020 and 2021, the authors surveyed 164 CDs from 144 Liaison Committee on Medical Education-accredited US medical schools about their views of the pandemic's impact on the surgery clerkship curriculum, students' experiences, outcomes, and institutional responses.

Overall survey response rates, calculated as number of respondents/number of surveyed, were 44.5% (73 of 164) and 50.6% (83 of 164) for the spring 2020 and 2021 surveys, respectively. Nearly all CDs (more than 95%) pivoted to virtual platforms and solutions. Most returned to some form of in-person learning by winter 2020, and prepandemic status by spring 2021 (46%, 38 of 83). Students' progression to the next year was delayed by 12% (9 of 73), and preparation was negatively impacted by 45% (37 of 83). Despite these data, CDs perceived students' interest in surgical careers was not significantly affected (89% vs 77.0%, p = 0.09). During the 1-year study, the proportion of CDs reporting a severe negative impact on the curriculum dropped significantly (p < 0.0001) for most parameters assessed except summative evaluations (40.3% vs 45.7%, p = 0.53). CDs (n = 83) also noted the pandemic's positive impact with respect to virtual patient encounters (21.7%), didactics (16.9%), student test performance (16.9%), continuous personal learning (14.5%), engagement in the clerkship (9.6%), and student interest in surgery as a career (7.2%).

During the pandemic, the severe negative impact on student educational programs lessened, and novel virtual curricular solutions emerged. Student interest in surgery as a career was sustained. Measures of student competency and effectiveness of new curriculum, including telehealth, remain areas for future investigation.