ABSTRACT
Purpose of study The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted medical education on multiple levels, and medical students have been forced to adjust to distance learning, altered clinical opportunities, and standardized testing inconsistencies. We sought to identify the effects of these dramatic deviations on medical students' career plans. Methods used We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of Johns Hopkins medical students between 7/13/2020 and 9/9/ 2020 in order to assess the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' career decisions. The survey items were developed to cover topics ranging from physical and emotional well-being during the pandemic, as well as perceptions of the effects on career development. Respondents rated statements according to a 5-point Likert scale, with a score of 1 representing 'strongly disagree', 2 'somewhat disagree', 3 'neutral', 4 'somewhat agree', and 5 'strongly agree'. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables. Summary of results Of the 585 eligible medical students, we had a final sample of 76 responses (13% response rate). Twenty-five (25/71, 35%) of those who responded had friends or family members who had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Students felt neutral regarding having more time to explore research projects (Mean +/- SD;3.06 +/- 1.18) and hobbies (3.43 +/- 1.28), as well as more time to spend with friends or family members (3.34 +/- 1.37). Most survey respondents somewhat disagreed that they considered quitting medical school during the pandemic (1.55 +/- 1.10). Students somewhat agreed that they view the field of medicine more positively since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (3.60 +/- 1.09). Respondents somewhat agreed that they would be unable to explore other specialties and find their best fit (3.55 +/- 1.32), but they felt neutral regarding level of competitiveness for their desired field (2.71 +/- 1.08). We found that the minority (4/66, 6%) of students had considered changing their specialty. Students felt neutral in terms of their Step 1 (3.25 +/- 1.05) or Step 2 (2.81 +/- 1.02) score deterring them from future career opportunities. Conclusions The majority of medical students have experienced barriers in their career pathway as a direct cause of COVID-19 restrictions on medical education, including the ability to explore different specialties to discover their best fit or find a chance to network with mentors. However, despite these obstacles, most students remain committed to medicine.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can result in many ocular manifestations. We report a rare case of bilateral central serous chorioretinopathy post-infection with COVID-19 in a 38-year-old woman who presented with bilateral blurred vision 1 month after infection with COVID-19. She reported fever, cough, and shortness of breath and was COVID-PCR positive. During her 10-day hospital stay, she received oxygen, antibiotics, heparin and corticosteroids intravenously and then orally. After her recovery from COVID-19, the patient developed progressive visual loss in both eyes: her corrected visual acuity was 3/10 in both eyes, the anterior segment was normal, and the vitreous was clear. Fundus examination, optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography showed bilateral serous retinal detachments. Her course was characterized by improvement in visual acuity and regression of the retinal detachments. Central serous chorioretinopathy can occur after COVID-19 infection due to the administration of corticosteroids; thus, ophthalmologic examination is essential to detect ocular involvement as early as possible.