Medical Student Education in the Era of COVID: The Benefits of a Hybrid Approach "Am I going to get sick ? Who am I putting at risk? Am I going to spread it to someone else?” The anxiety of balancing these possibilities during what was supposed to be the most important and exciting segment of our medical education – our third-year clerkships – grew more taxing throughout the pandemic. With the rollout of the COVID19 vaccines and the efforts of the medical school to offer new educational opportunities like virtual clerkships, lectures, and clinical skill assessments, we all did the best we could to continue to learn medicine. Though initially challenging for both faculty and students to adapt to this new reality, it has become increasingly clear that what seemed like a temporary means of bridging education has the potential to augment the in-person experience like never before. There is perhaps no greater example of this than the redesign of the General Diagnostic Radiology and Advanced Body Imaging electives. Dr. Goodhartz and Dr. Wood redesigned the General Diagnostic Radiology elective to blend virtual, self-directed learning with the benefits of being in the reading room. Each day of the elective, an online course dashboard is filled with links to various modules, readings, and standardized practice cases that helped me build a strong foundation of radiological knowledge over the course of the month. Dr. Magnetta implemented a similar hybrid model for the Body Imaging elective, seamlessly integrating case-based learning into the reading room environment. Each week we were able to practice dictating our own interpretations of cases into a template using an online PACS. Every case had links to review articles and modules that were invaluable in helping develop search patterns and discern specific imaging characteristics of a vast array of pathologies. At the end of each week Dr. Magnetta personally reviewed each case in detail with us and gave us the unique chance to learn how someone in the field would approach the images in real time. Through these experiences it has become clear that virtual learning can be leveraged not simply to keep these electives afloat during an international health crisis, but to enhance them. It is one thing to have someone tell you about the various imaging findings related to a disease process, but it is an entirely more powerful learning experience to read about these processes independently, practice looking for relevant findings on an online case, and eventually be able to see the findings in a real patient in the reading room. An educational approach like this can help students develop the skills essential for a resident in any field, but especially for somebody planning a career in Radiology. Self-directed learning is part of the continual learning process necessary throughout a medical career. It can help maximize the educational experience and teaching we receive back in the real clinical environment. As we continue to transition back to pre-pandemic life, I would love to see these electives continue to be in this hybrid format and am thoroughly excited for the innovative additions that are yet to come. - Srirajkumar Ranganathan, 4 th -year Medical Student
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