Editorial: COVID-19 Pandemic Likely to Result in Lasting Changes to Medical School Curricula
Following disruptions to medical education that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the United States this spring, "a return to a typical pre-COVID-19 teaching platform is unlikely," say Diane Wayne and colleagues in this Editorial. They suggest that "many creative changes are here to stay," including large-scale adoption of online education, noting that even faculty members who were previously resistant to remote learning now have evidence of technology's ability to meet the needs of pre-clinical students. Wayne and colleagues also note that adaptations made in recent months to ensure more focus on topics such as telemedicine, pandemic modeling, health equity, and population and public health could persist in medical school curricula going forward, helping to better prepare students for future pandemics and other unexpected medical scenarios. The knowledge that medical education may never be the same again will mean accrediting agencies will have to join in the adaptation effort, they write. "We now have an opportunity to create a better medical school experience with improved flexibility and outcomes that still ensures competence from this increasingly complex effort."
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Science Advances