From Front Lines to Online

In 2017, Sidney Kimmel Medical College took the bold step of changing the way it educates physicians. Out with the old—large lecture halls, endless labs, and isolating students from patients until the third year; in with the new—interactive case-based learning seminars, small group problem-based tutorials, and most importantly, putting future physicians into patient care settings almost immediately for early clinical exposure.

JeffMD was embraced by students and professors alike, and the curriculum has become the standard bearer for medical education. The method of instruction became the innovative new norm for excellence in physician training.

Enter COVID-19. Exit normalcy.

The pandemic forced widespread social distancing, resulting in the immediate suspension of clinical rotations and direct patient interaction, and putting an end to small group collaboration and team learning. Although the virus stopped everyday life in its tracks, the academic team at SKMC knew medical education could not be paused.

“The trick was how to make sure the students get the necessary skill sets and knowledge base and become clinically competent when they’re unable to directly interface with patients,” says Charles Pohl, MD '87, Vice Provost of Student Affairs at Thomas Jefferson University and Vice Dean of Student Affairs and Career Counseling at SKMC.

While it was a challenge, he says SKMC has not missed a beat academically. The school hasn’t altered the curriculum in the face of COVID-19, just the way that curriculum is delivered.

“The team has really risen to the occasion. Within two days of social distancing restrictions being enacted, the school leveraged technology to deliver a remote education,” Pohl says. “Although we had to halt direct patient care… and classroom learning… we did not interrupt the quality of the education.”

Group sessions and lectures have been moved to Zoom, and clinical clerkships have been given a futuristic redesign to deliver instruction online without sacrificing quality. Students present mock patients to attending physicians via video conferencing platforms, attend virtual rounds, and research and write papers focusing on clerkships and specialties.

“Our faculty have been leaders in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic in regard to academics,” Pohl says, noting that many of SKMC’s redesigned initiatives are being used as the model for medical schools across the country.

And while students are disappointed—“After all,” says Alexandra Leto, class of 2021, “patient interaction is the reason we want to become doctors!”—they understand that these are extraordinary times, and appreciate the extraordinary actions the school has taken to keep them on track to becoming doctors in the midst of a crisis that has all but made the world stand still.

“Everything was seamlessly transitioned,” says Leto. “There was a robust response from the academic affairs department, and they really created very successful virtual curriculums.”

Even with the herculean efforts to provide continuity in academics, Pohl admits that nothing replaces direct patient care, and promises that once the administration deems it safe, the students will return to clinical rotations—and their patients.

Leto says she is eagerly anticipating the day she can rejoin her mentors, faculty, and fellow students in the hospital.

“I’m going to hug everyone,” she says, adding quickly, “from six feet away, of course!”