COVID-19 Educational Support Team: Librarians, Physicians, and Medical Students Collaborate to Synthesize COVID-19 Research for Clinicians

To the Editor:

We read with great interest the article by Zhou and colleagues describing the Stanford Frontline COVID-19 Consult Service as a way of implementing value-added medical education (VAME) during the COVID-19 pandemic. ¹ We would like to describe our experience and highlight additional opportunities for similar services to provide VAME in academic settings and clinical systems beyond individual patient management.

The UChicago COVID-19 Educational Support Team was developed when our clinical librarians began providing resources and answers to clinical queries for clinicians in our COVID-19 unit. Four fourth-year medical students and an intern were recruited to assist, along with a fellow and faculty sponsor. From the initial teams’ work, an elective was formed, and 10 more students were recruited to handle the increasing demand. The team created 80 syntheses and summarized 325 significant articles. Survey results of clinicians showed 78% reported a change in thinking due to the syntheses, and 100% requested continuation of the service postpandemic. After the elective, the team recruited 2 additional students to create infographics that synthesized vaccine information.

In addition to the benefits described in the article by Zhou and colleagues, our VAME initiative reached beyond individual patient care. Clinicians asked questions and used the syntheses for presentations, research, and international meetings with Wuhan University (located where the COVID-19 virus originated in Wuhan, China). We received queries from nursing staff, physicians, and advanced practice providers, which ranged from topics on individual patient management in the hospital to community transmission and long-term sequelae.

Prior publications have highlighted the importance of integrating medical education into the broader clinical system. ^2,3 The services provided by students within this team demonstrate their potential for contributions across the health care system. Creating formal electives and strong partnerships across care systems and the community is an important component of ongoing medical education. This empowers students to be active members throughout the hospital and community and encourages multidisciplinary teamwork in libraries, public health labs, and more to improve delivery of care.

Acknowledgments

The team would like to thank Debra Werner and the medical trainees who served on the team. The team would also like to acknowledge the support of Chief Medical Officer Dr. Stephen Weber, the Hospital Incident Command System leadership, and the UChicago Medicine clinical staff serving on the frontlines. The team would also like to acknowledge the support of The Kathleen and Howard Zar Science Library Fund for funding the Kathleen A. Zar Clinical Library Residency position.