Creation of an Interactive Virtual Surgical Rotation for Undergraduate Medical Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Chao, Tiffany N.; Frost, Ariel S.; Brody, Robert M.; Byrnes, Yasmeen M.; Cannady, Steven B.; Luu, Neil N.; Rajasekaran, Karthik; Shanti, Rabie M.; Silberthau, Kara R.; Triantafillou, Vasiliki; Newman, Jason G.

OBJECTIVE: During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical student involvement in direct patient care has been severely limited. Rotations mandatory not only for core curricula but also for informing decisions regarding specialty choice have been postponed during a critical window in the application cycle. Existing virtual rotations are largely observational or lack patient-facing components. SETTING: A virtual Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery rotation at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) was implemented for medical students, comprising interactive live-streamed surgeries, outpatient telehealth visits, and virtual small group didactics. RESULTS: Medical students enrolled in the virtual surgical rotation were able to engage with attending surgeons and operating room staff while remotely viewing surgical procedures captured with first-person audiovisual technology. Students participated in several different aspects of care delivery in both the inpatient and outpatient setting, similar to their typical responsibilities of an in-person rotation. CONCLUSIONS: The authors will continue to develop the virtual surgical education methodology to further disseminate an interactive video-based medical student elective to other procedural specialties and institutions.