ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic will leave an indelible mark on the careers of current medical trainees. Given the disruptions to medical education, economic impact on institutions, and the uncertainties around future job prospects, trainees are facing unprecedented challenges. This situation is especially concerning for futures of pediatric physician-scientist trainees, where concerns regarding maintaining the pipeline were well documented prior to the emergence of COVID-19. In this Perspectives article, we leverage the unique expertise of our workgroup to address concerns of physician-scientist trainees and to provide suggestions on how to navigate career trajectories in the post-COVID-19 era. We identified and addressed four major areas of concern: lack of in-person conferences and the associated decrease access to mentors and networking activities, decreased academic productivity, diminished job prospects, and mental health challenges. We also suggest actions for trainees, mentors and educational leaders, and institutions to help support trainees during the pandemic, with a goal of maintaining the pediatric physician-scientist pipeline.
Subject(s)
Biomedical Research/education , COVID-19 , Education, Medical, Graduate , Mentors , Pediatricians/education , Pediatrics/education , Career Mobility , Efficiency , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Mental Health , Pediatricians/psychology , Societies, MedicalABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic challenged program leaders to respond rapidly to changes in health care delivery, protect trainee safety, and transform educational activities. The pandemic demanded that program directors prioritize and address myriad threats to trainees' well-being. In this paper, we adapt Maslow's needs framework to systematically address trainee well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify potential interventions to meet trainee needs at the program, institution, and extrainstitutional levels. Transforming education to effectively respond to trainee well-being needs requires leadership, and we use Kotter's 8-step change management model as an example of a framework to effectively lead change. Program leaders can take this opportunity to reflect upon their training programs and take the opportunity to improve them. Some of the systems of education we develop during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as telehealth, tele-education, and ways to stay connected may provide advantages and will be important to continue and expand upon post-COVID-19.