College Profile | Medical Schools He’s heard good things from students
about the revised approach to basic science education. “We’ve learned a lot about virtual learning, as well as the value of providing alternative options instead of stand-and- deliver lectures. I think that … will outlive the pandemic.” And he believes “students were very
appreciative of the ways in which we very quickly made sure we attended to their safety and to the safety of patients. Carilion was sensitive to everyone’s needs.” Still, “when we had to pull students from hospitals and clinics, it was a big challenge to keep them on track,” Knight says. “I know it limited the patient contact they had. That’s not a good thing. We want to send our students out from here as well-versed in clinical medicine as possible. The limits have taken a toll.”
Med schools get a checkup Dr. Christopher Woleben, the VCU School of Medicine’s interim senior associate dean for medical education and student affairs, thinks some of the pandemic-driven changes have been for the better, though, particularly in preclinical education. “I think we’ve learned to do remote learning technology better,” such as creating virtual breakout discussion groups, says Woleben, who is also an associate professor in the school’s Department of Emergency Medicine.
Once the pandemic hit, the school quickly had Zoom video conferences up and running for preclinical students. “We continue to have some in-person experi- ences in small groups. Of course, we’ve had to change the rooms and the timing to make sure we’re meeting requirements for social distancing,” Woleben says. “We’re hoping to transition back to more traditional in-person classes in the fall. I think we will continue to offer opportunities for students to participate virtually. It will probably be a hybrid experience. “ From March through June 2020, Woleben continues, “we were not sure what was going on, how to keep clinical-phase students safe,” so students were temporarily moved from in-person clinical training to online elective classes.
Third-year students took an eight-week nonclinical course until it was deemed safe to return to the health system in July 2020.
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The pandemic improved medical schools’ capabilities for delivering remote classes, says Dr. Christopher Woleben with the VCU School of Medicine.
Fourth-year medical students returned to clinical work in June 2020. With a shortened timeframe to prepare to apply for residencies, “individual schedules were designed by hand to make sure they got the experiences they needed. It was a lot of all-hands-on-deck,” he says. Woleben is proud of his medical students’ response to the pandemic crisis. Many stepped up as volunteers to conduct contact tracing for the Medical Reserve Corps, a national network of community-based units that provide volunteer assistance for public health initiatives and emergencies. “Their question was: ‘How can I help?’”
Waleed Ahmad, who recently finished his first year at the VCU School of Medicine, applied to medical school before the pandemic hit, but by the time he started in August 2020, classes were mostly online. The virtual experience was “pretty well done,” offering opportunities for small group meetings, says Ahmad, a native of Loudoun County and a graduate of James Madison University. He is president of the school’s class of 2024.
As a first-year student, Ahmad didn’t examine actual patients, but he did take the required Practice of Clinical Medicine class, during which students perform exams
Photo courtesy The Cavalier Daily Photo by Caroline Martin
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