Abstract Details

Title A Simulated Hospital in a COVID-19 Pandemic Environment for Undergraduate Neurology Students.

Topic Education, Research, and Methodology

Presentation(s) P12 - Poster Session 12 (5:30 PM-6:30 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 7-003

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the disruption of all sectors of the economy including education. According to UNESCO, over 1.37 million young people, including medical students, were affected by the closure of the education system. The main challenge for medical education has consisted in offering clerkships within a biosafety environment. The simulated hospital emerges as a teaching tool that guarantees the development of medical skills in a biosafety environment.

Objective To determine the impact of a simulated hospital on a neurology clerkship of 5-year medical students during the coronavirus pandemic in Bogota, Colombia.

Design/Methods A quasi-experimental design was conducted in a population of 5th-year medical students during their neurology clerkship. Our sample comprised two similar groups, one received a traditional face-to-face format during 2019, whereas the second group received a mixed virtual and simulation-based clerkship in 2020. All students in the pandemic group answered a Likert scale survey regarding their satisfaction with the simulated hospital. To evaluate theoretical knowledge acquisition students of both groups were required to perform a mid-term and a final examination.

Results Most of the students considered the simulated hospital a useful addition that should be incorporated into their medicine curriculum regardless of the pandemic. From the results, it is clear that students perceived that exposure to a simulated hospital facilitated their learning process (93.1%) and allowed greater interaction with the teacher compared to a face-to-face environment (77.3%). The difference in test results was not clinically significant.

Conclusions Our study shows that a simulated hospital is a highly efficient method to acquire clinical skills in trainees with improvement in medical knowledge and satisfaction evidenced by the Likert scales and comparable results in academic evaluations. Our experience indicates that exposure to a simulated hospital should be integrated into the curricular milestones of the medical education program regardless of the pandemic.

Authors/Disclosures
Jaime Toro, MD, FAAN (Universidad El Bosque) PRESENTER	Dr. Toro has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for Watch Neurology .
	No disclosure on file
Daniela S. Rodriguez (Fundación Santafé)	Ms. Rodriguez has nothing to disclose.
Laura A. Serna	Miss Serna has nothing to disclose.
Jairo A. Gaitan Alfonso, MD (Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá)	Dr. Gaitan Alfonso has nothing to disclose.
Thomas F. Medina Ramirez (Edificio 53)	Mr. Medina Ramirez has nothing to disclose.
	No disclosure on file
Manuel S. Yepes, MD	Dr. Yepes has nothing to disclose.