The Not So Obvious Impact of COVID 19: The Hidden “Curriculum”

The last two years of the Covid 19 pandemic has certainly brought on and inculcated a variety of changes, new practices, innovative approaches and altered mindsets. Some of these were intended, planned and incorporated into pathways and practices. There were many lessons and new experiences. Without our complete realization, there were also many less obvious lessons: the hidden curriculum. This refers to the unwritten, unspoken, unplanned and less obvious values, behaviour and norms practised or experienced during the pandemic. The hidden curriculum is conveyed and communicated without our direct awareness and intent. The hidden curriculum will certainly contribute towards healthcare staff resilience, handling of stressors, decisions on utilization of resources and patient care. Not to be forgotten, it will also impact how they develop friendships, partnerships, collaborations, negotiate their self-development and strengthen their sense of purpose and challenge assumptions. In this paper, the author, who worked at the frontline during the pandemic shares some of her views on the new healthcare landscape, mindset changes, technology adoption, psychological safety and the meaning of ‘staying home’. They represent her views, coloured by her experiences as an emergency physician, a medical educator, academic medicine practitioner and researcher.

A decision-tree model of career choice for veterinarians in clinical residency programs

OBJECTIVE To identify factors that individuals in clinical residency training programs consider when making a choice for or against a career in academic clinical medicine. SAMPLE 207 veterinarians in clinical residency programs. PROCEDURES An online survey was distributed to 1,053 veterinarians participating in clinical residency training programs overseen by organizations recognized by the AVMA American Board of Veterinary Specialties. Results were compiled and decision factors were analyzed by means of principal component analysis to identify latent factors from the set of survey items. These factors were then used to construct a decision tree to predict respondents’ choice of whether to enter academic medicine or private clinical practice. RESULTS 207 (20%) responses were analyzed. Ninety-three of 194 (48%) respondents reported a desire to pursue a career in academic medicine, and 101 (52%) reported a desire to pursue a career in private clinical practice. Principal component analysis identified 14 items clustered on research, clinical teaching, classroom teaching, and clinical practice. A decision tree was constructed that resulted in an overall accuracy of 82% in predicting a resident's career choice of academic medicine versus private clinical practice. The construct of professional benefits had a negative effect on desiring a career in academic medicine, whereas the construct of professional priorities and having had a positive residency training experience had a positive effect on desiring a career in academic medicine. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Understanding factors that attract and encourage residents who might have an aptitude and interest in academic medicine holds important implications for addressing the shortage of veterinarians entering academic medicine.

Role of Mentors in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Training

A career in academic medicine may take years to develop, as the skills it requires are often not taught at an early stage. Having a committed mentor is always a privilege and valuable to the students in medicine. Given the wide variety of mentoring relationships, they are broadly classified as formal and informal according to the way in which the relationship is formed. Mentoring relationships usually evolve in stages to ensure competencies are met before the mentees progress to the next part of their mentoring process. “Mentoring up” is a concept that empowers mentees to be active participants in their mentoring relationships. Also, the mentoring needs vary depending on the stage of professional development. Mentors have 7 roles to perform in this relationship. Despite the advantages, the mentoring process faces the challenges like unrealistic expectations from the mentees, lack of training and time constraint among the clinician educators, and so on. The challenges can be overcome by building structured mentorship programs, by organizing the faculty development programs, use of virtual platforms to facilitate the meeting and providing the academic recognition/financial incentives to the mentors providing the exemplary service.