Residency Training in a Healthcare Crisis
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Residency Training in a Healthcare Crisis Hala Katato 1 & Daniel Smith 1 & Esther Akinyemi 1 Received: 23 April 2020 / Accepted: 8 September 2020 # Academic Psychiatry 2020
To the Editor: Is the COVID-19 pandemic just a challenge or a catalyst for change? In the medical profession, we have mastered the art of learning on the job and adapting to change. While early physicians learned through apprenticeships, medical training has progressed to more formal learning. Medical professionals have adapted to every change, starting with the plethora of knowledge expected during medical school to the daunting transition to residency. Trainees have persevered through these expected changes. COVID-19, however, is a change that was not foreseen and presents a possibility of a “new normal” in healthcare. Could it be that the COVID-19 pandemic is a catalyst for change that not only requires trainees to adapt but also the healthcare system as a whole? Residency is the steepest learning curve for medical training. It comes with an increased patient load, longer hours, and overall greater responsibility. With the advent of COVID-19, however, we have found ourselves in an unprecedented situation. We now face a situation in which we are wedged between a deadly infectious disease, the greater responsibility of caring for these patients at the risk of death, and a yearning to grow as medical professionals while still connecting with peers. There is uncertainty about completing requirements for graduation, continuing with the medical profession, and frankly speaking, staying alive. The fight against this novel COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly influenced our medical training. We have had various outbreaks and emergencies in the past that have led to alterations in traditional medical education. Though these past events may not have been as severe as our current situation, the lessons learned during those times are still valuable in the COVID-19 era.
* Daniel Smith [email protected] 1
Henry Ford Hospital/Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
When SARS struck in the early 2000s, a case study from Toronto outlined the importance of maintaining regular contact between education providers and learners during the outbreak, establishing a realistic process for postponing educational courses and utilizing technological advances to deliver continued education [1]. A residency group in West Africa created a framework aligned with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies to help meet residency educational requirements during the Ebola outbreak in 2014–2015 [2]. This framework outlined educational goals and objectives for residents to address patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning, interpersonal and communication skills, and professionalism with assessments including direct observations and discussions to ensure competency [2]. HIV, SARS, EVD, and their reign in our nation have taught us how to combat deadly infectious disease whilst continuing to provide medica
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