Adapting to the educational challenges of a pandemic: development of a novel virtual urology sub-internship during the time of COVID-19

Williams, Cheyenne; Familusi, Olivia O; Ziemba, Justin; Lee, Daniel; Mittal, Sameer; Mucksavage, Phillip; Smith, Ariana; Kovell, Robert Caleb

OBJECTIVES: To design, implement, and evaluate learner attitudes of a virtual urologic surgery clinical rotation for medical students METHODS: Ten senior medical students at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania were enrolled. Students were administered a pre-course test on their perceived confidence of their urologic knowledge, confidence in identifying urologic conditions, comfort with performing urologic evaluations, and confidence placing consults for urologic issues. Students participated in a two-week curriculum that included both asynchronous and synchronous content. Asynchronous content included pre-recorded lectures, self-paced problem-based learning (PBL) modules, directed reading and video content, and an online discussion board. Synchronous content included real-time videoconferences covering case discussions, simulated patient presentations, and critical literature reviews. At the conclusion of the course, students were administered the post-course survey evaluating changes in their ability to identify and understand urologic conditions. RESULTS: The post-course survey demonstrated this course significantly increases students’ scores in: self-perceived urologic knowledge, confidence in naming urologic conditions, comfort with performing urologic evaluations, and confidence placing consults for urologic conditions (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Virtual medical student rotations are scalable and effective at delivering surgical material and can approximate the interpersonal teaching found in clinical learning environments. They may be a useful tool to supplement or augment clinical learning in select situations.