Developments in medical education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid BEME systematic review: BEME Guide No. 63

Abstract

Background

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic in March 2020. This rapid systematic review synthesised published reports of medical educational developments in response to the pandemic, considering descriptions of interventions, evaluation data and lessons learned.

Methods

The authors systematically searched four online databases and hand searched MedEdPublish up to 24 May 2020. Two authors independently screened titles, abstracts and full texts, performed data extraction and assessed risk of bias for included articles. Discrepancies were resolved by a third author. A descriptive synthesis and outcomes were reported.

Results

Forty-nine articles were included. The majority were from North America, Asia and Europe. Sixteen studies described Kirkpatrick’s outcomes, with one study describing levels 1–3. A few papers were of exceptional quality, though the risk of bias framework generally revealed capricious reporting of underpinning theory, resources, setting, educational methods, and content. Key developments were pivoting educational delivery from classroom-based learning to virtual spaces, replacing clinical placement based learning with alternate approaches, and supporting direct patient contact with mitigated risk. Training for treating patients with COVID-19, service reconfiguration, assessment, well-being, faculty development, and admissions were all addressed, with the latter categories receiving the least attention.

Conclusions

This review highlights several areas of educational response in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies a few articles of exceptional quality that can serve as models for future developments and educational reporting. There was often a lack of practical detail to support the educational community in enactment of novel interventions, as well as limited evaluation data. However, the range of options deployed offers much guidance for the medical education community moving forward and there was an indication that outcome data and greater detail will be reported in the future.

Keywords:

• Best evidence medical education
• undergraduate
• postgraduate
• medicine
• methods

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the patients who have suffered from or lost their lives to COVID-19, our colleagues who have bravely battled this pandemic at great personal cost, and our learners for their resilience and adaptability in response to enormous changes in medical education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Morris Gordon

Morris Gordon, MBChB, PHD, MMed is Cochrane Coordinating Editor, Chair of the BEME Executive Committee, and a Professor of Evidence Synthesis and Systematic Review, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.

Madalena Patricio

Madalena Patricio, PhD is Past-President of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE), Chair of BEME, and Director of the Department of Medical Education at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Laura Horne

Laura Horne is a Clinical Fellow in Medical Education, Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Blackpool, UK.

Alexandra Muston

Alexandra Muston is a Clinical Fellow in Medical Education, Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Blackpool, UK.

Sebastian R. Alston

Sebastian R Alston is Director of a BEME International Collaborating Centre and a Professor of Pathology at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dothan, Alabama, USA.

Mohan Pammi

Mohan Pammi, MD, PhD, Co-Director of a BEME International Collaborating Centre and Associate Professor of Neonatology at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA.

Satid Thammasitboon

Satid Thammasitboon, MD, MHPE is Director of the Center for Research, Innovation and Scholarship in Medical Education (CRIS), Co-Director of a BEME International Collaborating Centre, and Associate Professor of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA.

Sophie Park

Sophie Park is a General Practitioner, an NIHR School of Primary Care (SPCR) Evidence Synthesis Working Group (ESWG) Lead, Director of a BEME International Collaborating Centre, and Director of Medical Education (Primary Care and Community) at UCL Medical School, University College London, UK.

Teresa Pawlikowska

Teresa Pawlikowska is a General Practitioner, Director of a BEME International Collaborating Centre, the Inaugural Director of the Health Professions Education Centre (HPEC), RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland.

Eliot L. Rees

Eliot L Rees is a Lecturer in Medical Education at Keele University, a PhD candidate at University College London, and Chair of Trainees in the Association for the Study of Medical Education (TASME), Newcastle, UK.

Andrea Jane Doyle

Andrea Jane Doyle is a medical physicist and Research Officer for the Health Professions Education Centre (HPEC), RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland.

Michelle Daniel

Michelle Daniel, MD, MHPE is Chair of the BEME Review Committee, Associate Editor for Systematic Reviews for Medical Teacher, Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Learning Health Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.