Effective March 18, the UNMC College of Medicine has suspended all medical student participation in clinical activities that involve direct patient care.
Kelly Caverzagie, M.D., associate dean for educational strategy for the college, announced the decision to medical faculty and students via email on March 17.
The decision is in line with an AAMC recommendation also made on March 17.
Students have been asked to work with preceptors, faculty and residents to ensure that assigned tasks and responsibilities are appropriately handled to ensure continuity of safe patient care.
“Clinical training and direct patient care are the foundations of medical education,” Dr. Caverzagie said. “Our suspension of this training is a serious matter and not something that we took lightly. The rapidly progressing pandemic and the effect it is having, and will continue to have, on the educational experience of students has been profound.”
The college is establishing a new rotation, in which students will learn about key topics related to leadership, ethics, crisis management, population health and advocacy while working through a wide variety of service learning opportunities.
Third-year medical students are expected to start their clerkships and new fourth-year students their sub-internship rotations in July, Dr. Caverzagie said.
“While not ideal to have occurred this way, we are very excited about the opportunity that is now presented for students to learn about the wide-spread impact of emerging infectious disease and provide valuable service in support of our collective efforts to fight this pandemic,” Dr. Caverzagie said.