Table 2.
Overall Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Clinical Learning Environment Across all Internal Medicine Clerkship Sites (n=99)
| Activity | Decreased, no. of responses (%) | Unchanged, no. of responses (%) | Increased, no. of responses (%) | Don’t know/Unsure, no. of responses, n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients followed | 35 (35.4) | 62 (62.6) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) |
| Diversity of patient pathology | 26 (26.3) | 69 (69.7) | 3 (3) | 1 (1) |
| Time at patient bedside | 53 (53.5) | 38 (38.4) | 0 (--) | 8 (8.1) |
| Physical exam opportunities | 66 (66.7) | 27 (27.3) | 0 (--) | 6 (6.1) |
| Medical student autonomy | 21 (21.2) | 76 (76.8) | 1 (1.0) | 1 (1) |
| Number of medical students per team/faculty | 21 (21.2) | 55 (55.6) | 23 (23.2) | 0 (--) |
| Quantity of teaching time | 37 (37.4) | 57 (57.6) | 2 (2.0) | 3 (3) |
| Availability of clinical teaching space* | 66 (67.4) | 28 (28.6) | 2 (2.0) | 2 (2) |
| Availability of clinical workspace | 60 (60.6) | 35 (35.4) | 1 (1.0) | 3 (3) |
| Student night-time clinical work** | 10 (13.5) | 50 (67.6) | 13 (17.6) | 1 (1.4) |
*n=98; **n=74 (an additional 25 respondents reported “not applicable”)
Note: Questions were presented to 97 respondents who reported that students returned to in-person clinical aspects of the internal medicine clerkship and to two respondents who reported that “the clerkship was not suspended, and students were not removed from all in-person clinical rotations”