Accepted Type
Dedicated Poster
Code
LP5 - 01
Acceptance Declaration
Accept
Additional Information
I declare I have no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this program.
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
no
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Poster
Sub Type
Education Research
Will the presenter be a:
Student
Affiliation
Title
Impacts of COVID-19 on Curricular Changes on Medical Student Wellness
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
COVID-19 altered medical student education, including a shift to remote learning for pre-clerks and removal from hospital duties for clerks. Pre-clerkship curriculum remains largely online and changes often, contributing to ongoing student stress. Our study assessed the effect of curricular changes made in response to COVID-19 on medical student mental health and wellness.
Methods
This was a prospective study of students in Queen's School of Medicine in the cohorts graduating 2021-2023. We created an online questionnaire using Qualtrics that included the Perceived Stress Questionnaire as well as questions assessing stressors that accompanied remote learning. Data was analyzed using mixed-methods on NVivo and SPSS.
Results
We received 93 responses. There were 20, 34 and 39 respondents from the 2021, 2022 and 2023 cohorts respectively. Thematic analysis revealed that (1) the top stressor amongst students was uncertainty about curriculum, career and CaRMS; (2) isolation was the aspect of remote learning students disliked the most; and (3) students' greatest worry about COVID-19's effect on their future surrounded residency, electives and CaRMS. In response to "I am worried that I will be less competitive as a CaRMS applicant due to curricular change", the mean response was 5.19 out of 7 on level of agreement and the mode was 7/7. Comparing cohorts revealed 2022s and 2023s have significantly more worry about curricular changes compared to 2021s.
Conclusion
Medical students experienced stress due to COVID-19 curricular changes. Fears about inadequacy in education and readiness for residency emerged as major themes. These results will be the focus of our interventions with Undergraduate Medical Education going forward. We hope to deliver this questionnaire to students across Canada to expand its impact.
Keyword 1
COVID-19
Keyword 2
Medical Education
Keyword 3
Remote Learning
Level of Training
Undergraduate
Abstract Themes
Physician & Medical Student Health and Well-being
Additional Theme (First choice)
Undergraduate
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Authors
Presenter
Rachel Trites
Anique Le Roux
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
