Online Graduation of Doctors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. In March 2020, the United Kingdom declared a nationwide lockdown, a public health intervention in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the increasing pressures on the country's publicly funded healthcare system, the National Health Service, required the early graduation of final year medical students so that they could join the workforce. Bristol Medical School responded to this health crisis by graduating 226 final year students. Since social distancing policies resulted in the prohibition of social gatherings, university graduation ceremonies were cancelled. The medical school felt it important to mark the students' qualification as these young doctors were to begin their careers amidst an unprecedented global health emergency. An online graduation ceremony was held on the video conferencing platform Zoom. This was attended by university staff and students from their homes across the UK and elsewhere in the world. Students commemorated their qualification by submitting photographs of themselves celebrating in homemade graduation robes and mortar boards which were included in the online event. The ceremony was a memorable occasion and created a sense of community in a time of social isolation. This novel situation gave rise to a unique celebration attracting media coverage and was reported on national TV and radio news bulletins along with newspapers. The structure for the online graduation ceremony outlined in this paper may be replicated for other graduation ceremonies or celebrations affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.