Rethinking the away rotation

ABSTRACT

Learning Objectives: Through a virtual elective 1. Provide a remote virtual education opportunity for EM bound students during times of disruption 2. Demonstrate our academic mission, program strengths, and introduce a variety of faculty to prospective applicants 3.Recruit high-quality EM bound applicants Background: Emergency Medicine (EM) applicants and residencies benefit from away rotations by giving applicants exposure to different program leadership, diverse clinical environments, and providing programs face-time with qualified interested applicants. COVID has suspended this practice. Through a virtual elective, we were able to convey our academic mission and cultivate an interest in our program for interview season. Educational Objectives: 1.Provide a remote virtual education opportunity for EM bound students during times of disrupted clinical exposure 2.Demonstrate our academic mission, program strengths, and introduce a variety of faculty to prospective applicants 3.Recruit high-quality EM bound applicants Curricular Design: We met the disruption with a virtual 1-week clerkship designed as an away elective for visiting students. The content was developed based on feedback from institutional education experts and a literature review of the implementation of a virtual classroom. Each day consisted of small group case-based didactics, virtual hands-on learning, digital hands-on simulation, and social interaction with program leadership. To encourage active participation and add variety to the virtual format, a “care-package” with materials to perform an at-home splinting lab was mailed to students. In addition, students were encouraged to forage for wound care and splinting materials in their own homes to improvise with during a wilderness medicine session. To foster a sense of community and simulate in-person interpersonal interactions we dedicated 3 hours to meet with the chief residents and Program Director. Impact We accepted four students into the elective, all interested, and all applied for an interview. Despite the lack of contact in the clinical setting, this proved to be a worthwhile educational experience for the students and has the potential to be an alternative recruitment tool during an era where social distancing is imperative.