ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: We describe the planning, process and evaluation of final-year Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine summative assessments in a four-year graduate medical degree program, during a COVID-19 Delta-variant public health stay-at-home lockdown. CONCLUSIONS: We conducted separate written and clinical synchronous (real-time simultaneous) tele-assessments. We used online assessment technology with students, examiners and simulated patients, all in different physical locations. Medical students' examination performance showed a good range. This was comparable to other discipline stations, and performance in previous years. There was no differential performance of students through the day of the assessments.
Subject(s)
Addiction Medicine , COVID-19 , Education, Medical, Undergraduate , Psychiatry , Students, Medical , Addiction Medicine/education , Communicable Disease Control , Educational Measurement , Humans , Psychiatry/educationABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe the context, challenges and responses to COVID-19 public health measures for medical education in psychiatry, with an emphasis on sharing strategies for ongoing COVID-19 challenges. CONCLUSION: The rapidity of COVID-19 public health measures instituted in Australia required swift action for medical education to address lockdowns of student clinical placements. The responses included a transition to interim online learning followed by a return to truncated clinical placements renegotiated to conform to public health measures. Adjustment of formative and summative assessment has been necessary. However, further contingencies may emerge depending upon the overall progress of the COVID-19 pandemic.