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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Academic Ophthalmology 2020; 12(02): e165-e170
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1716695
Research Article

Ophthalmology Education in COVID-19: A Remote Elective for Medical Students

Sarah N. DeVaro‡   *
1   School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
,
Ogul E. Uner  ‡   *
1   School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
,
Yousuf M. Khalifa
1   School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
2   Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
,
Emily B. Graubart
1   School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
2   Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
› Author Affiliations Funding This work was supported by an unrestricted departmental grant to the Emory Eye Center from Research to Prevent Blindness (New York, NY) and by National Eye Institute Core Grant P30 EY006360.
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Abstract

Background The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has created obstacles for medical student education, as clinical rotations were temporarily halted. Recent literature shows online electives may provide an alternative learning platform. We developed a teleophthalmology student elective for rising third-year medical student (MS3) and fourth-year medical student (MS4) to continue teaching and exposure to the field.

Methods A 4-week remote elective was approved by Emory University School of Medicine and offered between April 18, 2020, and May 15, 2020, for rising MS3s and MS4s. The curriculum consisted of online self-study materials, student presentations, chart review assignments, case-based discussions with faculty, and telehealth experiences. All students were surveyed and tested with questions from United States Medical Licensing Examination World (UWorld) test bank at the end of the course.

Results A total of 18 students were enrolled, with 66.7% MS3 and 33.3% MS4 participants. The mean rating of fulfillment of course learning objectives was 8.1/10 (range, 6.7–8.8), with mean ratings of 8.2 for MS3s and 7.7 for MS4s. There was a significant increase in self-reported knowledge in ophthalmology, with an increase from 4.6 to 8.1 for MS3s (p = 0.002) and 6.7 to 8.0 for MS4s (p = 0.04). Students also reported higher interest in the field, with an increase from 4.9 to 7.8 for MS3s (p = 0.01) and 7.5 to 8.7 for MS4s (p = 0.1). The students performed significantly higher on the postcourse test (94.8%) than UWorld question bank users (74.1%) (p < 0.001).

Conclusion Our novel ophthalmology elective significantly enhanced self-reported medical student knowledge and interest in the field during a crisis that required transition to remote learning. Further study of student telehealth experience and objective assessment is needed to improve online learning in ophthalmology.

Keywords

medical student education - undergraduate ophthalmology education - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic - coronavirus disease - COVID-19 - telemedicine - telehealth - remote learning - online teaching

* These authors contributed equally to this study.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 17 June 2020

Accepted: 04 August 2020

Article published online:
10 October 2020

© 2020. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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