Moderated by Matt Linton

PRESENTATION 1 - Perceptions Regarding Cadaverless Online Anatomy Education    
Nirwana Walenna    
Hasanuddin University

PURPOSE One of the biggest impacts of anatomy education is the opportunity for medical students to learn from cadavers. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, medical education has been transferred into an online format. Although online education itself has proven to be effective, there is no consensus among educators to replace dissection room teaching by online materials. Therefore we wanted to explore the perceptions of students and teachers about cadaverless education.

METHODS The study was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine at Hasanuddin University, South Sulawesi, Indonesia between June and August 2021. All first year medical students were invited to participate in a focus group interview after attending online anatomy sessions. Additionally, teachers who teach anatomy in the first year were invited for an individual interview with the primary investigator. Interviews were conducted in the Indonesian Language, recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis in this study was done based on guidance by Braun and Clarke (2006).

RESULTS We performed three focus group sessions of 12 students each, and 12 individual interviews with teachers. Analysis of the interviews yielded 4 main themes: Quality of Learning; Confidence/concerns in Knowledge & Skills; Ethics and Identity as a future physician; and Economical aspects. We found that students were worried and skeptical about the quality of the online education, as well as their capacity to practice medicine in the future without having experienced cadavers.  On the contrary, teachers feel there is no difference between online and offline teaching as long as they can transfer knowledge in an interactive manner. Some teachers doubt student's ability in psychomotor skills due to cadaverless teaching.  

CONCLUSION In this study we discovered that students and teachers have different perspectives on cadaverless anatomy education. It is important to take both perspectives into consideration in developing future anatomy learning programs.
 

PRESENTATION 2 - Professional Identity Formation of Basic Science Medical Educators: a Qualitative Study    
Joanna Brooks    
University of Kansas Medical Center

PURPOSE Basic science educators play a vital role in the education of medical students, yet little is known about what factors shape their professional identity. To shed light on this developmental process, we investigated the professional identity formation (PIF) of medical educators with doctoral degrees across numerous basic science disciplines.  

METHODS A multi-institutional qualitative descriptive study was conducted using a purposive sample of basic science medical educators in the United States. In-depth individual interviews and thematic analysis of interview data was used to identify facilitators and barriers to participants' PIF as medical educators.

RESULTS Interviews were completed with 58 participants from 7 allopathic medical schools between December 2020 and February 2021. Participants described their own professional identity in a variety of ways, suggesting a lack of uniformity among this group. Participants reported a number of PIF supports, including teaching enjoyment, engagement with other medical educators, recognition and feeling valued, and institutional support. Some described themselves as "lucky" to be in the field of medical education. Threats to PIF included lack of educational and/or medical training (i.e., imposter syndrome), lack of established career and promotion pathways, and a perception that their educational work was less valued than their colleagues' scientific research. Participants also described additional challenges related to pursuing a unique and not widely understood career pathway, leading some to describe a sense of working in a "bubble" at their institution.

CONCLUSION Our findings suggest ways that administrators and institutions can support the PIF of basic science medical educators by establishing clear career and promotion pathways for medical educators, creating robust communities of practice, and providing faculty development opportunities that strengthen medical educator PIF. The identity threats reported in our data demonstrate that much work remains to be done to support and develop medical educator identities among basic science faculty.
 

PRESENTATION 3 - How Did We Get Here? Basic Science Faculty Pathways to Medical Science Education    
Kelly Quesnelle
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville

PURPOSE: Basic science educators play a vital role in the education of medical students, yet little is known about their pathways into this role. To support future medical science educators, there is a need to first identify the career pathways and the factors that support and hinder basic science faculty who become medical educators.

METHODS: A multi-institutional qualitative descriptive study was conducted using a purposive sample of basic science medical educators with PhD degrees in biomedical science disciplines in the United States. In-depth individual interviews and thematic analysis of interview data were used to identify participants' pathways into medical education and the key factors influencing those pathways.

RESULTS: Fifty-eight participants from 7 allopathic medical schools participated in interviews between December 2020 and February 2021. Except for anatomy educators, whose training often included teaching medical students, most participants did not consider medical education as a serious career pathway during their PhD training and often described their pathways into medical education as serendipitous. Most participants described their training or preparation for teaching as "on-the-job" citing a paucity of graduate or postdoctoral-level training programs specific for careers in education.  Participants also reported that mentors played a key role in facilitating their pathways into medical education. Many respondents reported an attraction to teaching, rather than a dissatisfaction with bench research, as a main motivation to become a medical educator.

CONCLUSION: This study highlights the confluence of serendipity, "on-the-job" training, and mentoring as the most common facilitators for basic scientists' entry into career pathways in medical science education. Our findings highlight a need for sustaining mentoring programs, particularly in faculty who are new to medical science education and suggest an opportunity for growth of formal pre- and post-doctoral educational training programs.
 

PRESENTATION 4 - Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Burnout and Clinical Rotations for Third-year Medical Students    
Ashruth Reddy    
Medical College of Georgia

PURPOSE  The COVID-19 pandemic greatly changed the daily experiences of third-year medical students. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of third-year students at the Medical College of Georgia concerning the impact of COVID-19 on their well-being and education.

METHODS  Third-year medical students (n=29 of 186 students) completed an online survey consisting of 95 multiple choice, Likert-scale, and free-response questions assessing burnout, coping strategies, and academic plans. Burnout was assessed using the 1-item Maslach Burnout Inventory. 

RESULTS  The majority of respondents (95%) reported experiencing some degree of burnout due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 40% citing this burnout to be significant. Burnout was attributed to fewer interactions with friends and family (69%), worry about lack of adequate patient exposure (55%), and cancellations of rotations (51%). Students were also unable to go home as often as often as they would like (48%). Students' level of self-reported happiness was negatively affected by their ability to go home (47%). Many respondents (80%) spend ?5 a week socializing with peers. Most report this as a significant decrease from previous years (55%). Respondents (65%) reported that the pandemic negatively impacted their personal plans for the summer. Interestingly, only 18% of students' choice of specialty was impacted by the pandemic.

CONCLUSION  The pandemic worsened burnout in third-year medical students. Multiple factors may explain this finding including that many students were not able to go home, spend time with their friends/family, or socialize frequently due to the pandemic. Continuing to explore the effects of the pandemic on medical students may further elucidate the changes that must be made to help students adjust to the new circumstances.