The COVID-19 pandemic and undergraduate medical student teaching/learning and assessment

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Medical colleges closed in most countries in February-March due to the coronavirus pandemic and the need to ensure physical distancing. Many rapid changes to teaching/learning and assessment were carried out. Articles published on medical education during the pandemic were analyzed to answer three questions: What changes to undergraduate medical student teaching/learning have occurred during the last six months? What modifications to undergraduate medical student assessment have occurred during the corresponding time period and what are students' perceptions regarding these changes? English language articles published during the current year till 10 ^th July were searched using the terms 'pandemic', 'coronavirus disease', 'COVID-19', 'undergraduate medical education', 'medical student assessment' and 'medical schools'. The online databases PubMed and Google Scholar were searched. The journal AMEE MedEdPublish was also searched. Articles dealing mainly with postgraduate education, continuing medical education, institutional preparedness, early graduation and joining the workforce were excluded. After narrowing down according to the selection criteria, and addressing duplication, a total of 62 unique articles were obtained. A total of 44 articles were on undergraduate teaching /learning during the pandemic and 10 articles mainly focused on assessment. A total of 8 articles mentioned student experiences of teaching/learning and assessment during the pandemic. Medical education migrated online during the pandemic. The transition may have been smoother for preclinical students as the content could be delivered remotely more easily. Moving clinical learning online has greater challenges. Medical students, especially in developing countries face greater challenges to learn remotely. Open book assessments have been used. E-portfolios, projects, exams with remote proctoring, online OSCE, online structured viva-voce have been carried out. Student perception about these changes were mixed. They were happy about being able to continue learning but maintaining focus and sustaining interest were challenges. Clinical learning has been particularly affected.