Korean Journal of Medical Education (Jun 2022)

Impact of medical school responses during the COVID-19 pandemic on student satisfaction: a nationwide survey of US medical students

  • Isaac E. Kim,
  • Daniel D. Kim,
  • Juliana E. Kim,
  • Elliott Rebello,
  • David Chung,
  • Parker Woolley,
  • Daniel Lee,
  • Brittany A. Borden,
  • Aaron Wang,
  • Douglas Villalta,
  • Agatha Sutherland,
  • Sebastian De Armas,
  • Matthew Liu,
  • Hannah Kim,
  • Grace Sora Ahn,
  • Reed Geisler,
  • Alexander Yang,
  • Bowon Joung,
  • John Slate-Romano,
  • Michal Rajski,
  • Alison E. Kim,
  • Roxanne Vrees,
  • Kristina Monteiro

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3946/kjme.2022.228
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 34, no. 2
pp. 167 – 174

Abstract

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Purpose Medical schools have faced various challenges in preparing their clinical students for the frontlines of a pandemic. This study investigated medical students’ satisfaction with their institutions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with the intention of guiding educators in future public health crises. Methods In this cross-sectional study surveying students in clinical rotations, the primary outcome was overall satisfaction regarding medical schools’ responses to the pandemic, and the four secondary outcomes were school communication, exposure to COVID-19, availability of personal protective equipment, and access to COVID-19 testing. Results The survey was distributed to ten medical schools, of which 430 students responded for a response rate of 13.0%. While most students were satisfied (61.9%, n=266) with their schools’ response, more than one in five (21.9%, n=94) were dissatisfied. Among the four secondary outcomes, communication with students was most predictive of overall satisfaction. Conclusion In future crises, schools can best improve student satisfaction by prioritizing timely communication.

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