Medical student rotations amid COVID - Welcome to medicine little grasshopper.
I learned a valuable lesson about mentoring medical students during clinical rotations amid the COVID pandemic...and it's not as easy as you think.

I have been in medical education, either in it or teaching it, for 20 years. I have spent countless hours doing lectures, giving Hospital Grand Rounds, or leading bedside teaching rounds to those who want to follow in my footsteps as a clinical expert. But some are just trying to survive, trying to check off another day until they can get to a rotation that better suits them. We have all been there.
July 1st
The other day I had a third year medical student join my Graduate Medical Education team on July 1st. I love enthusiastic learners and this young woman fit that bill. She asked me about expectations and objectives for the rotation from the very first day but one thing really stood out to me immediately, she was almost paralyzed with fear and intimidation.

It had been some time since I had seen or helped teach a learner that demonstrated that level of insecurity. I worried for her. As the rotation progressed, day after day, I learned about this woman's past and how she had immigrated to America at the age of 4. She was raised with little but sought a medical education that was sure to give her success and stability....and she was making it. She was bright and respectful and reliable. As I continued to learn about her past, I asked her about her experiences during COVID in the past year and then....it hit me. She had never actually touched any patient as a healthcare learner until our very first day together. She voiced her apprehension in connecting the dots between strictly on-line medical education during a time of extreme social isolation to that of a competent, hands-on junior physician learner who was knowledgeable....and most of all...present.
