Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students: a multicenter quantitative study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the United States (US) medical education system with the necessary, yet unprecedented Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) national recommendation to pause all student clinical rotations with in-person patient care. This study is a quantitative analysis investigating the educational and psychological effects of the pandemic on US medical students and their reactions to the AAMC recommendation in order to inform medical education policy. METHODS: The authors sent a cross-sectional survey via email to medical students in their clinical training years at six medical schools during the initial peak phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey questions aimed to evaluate students' perceptions of COVID-19's impact on medical education; ethical obligations during a pandemic; infection risk; anxiety and burnout; willingness and needed preparations to return to clinical rotations. RESULTS: Seven hundred forty-one (29.5%) students responded. Nearly all students (93.7%) were not involved in clinical rotations with in-person patient contact at the time the study was conducted. Reactions to being removed were mixed, with 75.8% feeling this was appropriate, 34.7% guilty, 33.5% disappointed, and 27.0% relieved. Most students (74.7%) agreed the pandemic had significantly disrupted their medical education, and believed they should continue with normal clinical rotations during this pandemic (61.3%). When asked if they would accept the risk of infection with COVID-19 if they returned to the clinical setting, 83.4% agreed. Students reported the pandemic had moderate effects on their stress and anxiety levels with 84.1% of respondents feeling at least somewhat anxious. Adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) (53.5%) was the most important factor to feel safe returning to clinical rotations, followed by adequate testing for infection (19.3%) and antibody testing (16.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the education of US medical students in their clinical training years. The majority of students wanted to return to clinical rotations and were willing to accept the risk of COVID-19 infection. Students were most concerned with having enough PPE if allowed to return to clinical activities.

Atherosclerotic Plaque Tissue: Noninvasive Quantitative Assessment of Characteristics with Software-aided Measurements from Conventional CT Angiography.

Purpose To (a) evaluate whether plaque tissue characteristics determined with conventional computed tomographic (CT) angiography could be quantitated at higher levels of accuracy by using image processing algorithms that take characteristics of the image formation process coupled with biologic insights on tissue distributions into account by comparing in vivo results and ex vivo histologic findings and (b) assess reader variability. Materials and Methods Thirty-one consecutive patients aged 43-85 years (average age, 64 years) known to have or suspected of having atherosclerosis who underwent CT angiography and were referred for endarterectomy were enrolled. Surgical specimens were evaluated with histopathologic examination to serve as standard of reference. Two readers used lumen boundary to determine scanner blur and then optimized component densities and subvoxel boundaries to best fit the observed image by using semiautomatic software. The accuracy of the resulting in vivo quantitation of calcification, lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC), and matrix was assessed with statistical estimates of bias and linearity relative to ex vivo histologic findings. Reader variability was assessed with statistical estimates of repeatability and reproducibility. Results A total of 239 cross sections obtained with CT angiography and histologic examination were matched. Performance on held-out data showed low levels of bias and high Pearson correlation coefficients for calcification (-0.096 mm2 and 0.973, respectively), LRNC (1.26 mm2 and 0.856), and matrix (-2.44 mm2 and 0.885). Intrareader variability was low (repeatability coefficient ranged from 1.50 mm2 to 1.83 mm2 among tissue characteristics), as was interreader variability (reproducibility coefficient ranged from 2.09 mm2 to 4.43 mm2). Conclusion There was high correlation and low bias between the in vivo software image analysis and ex vivo histopathologic quantitative measures of atherosclerotic plaque tissue characteristics, as well as low reader variability. Software algorithms can mitigate the blurring and partial volume effects of routine CT angiography acquisitions to produce accurate quantification to enhance current clinical practice. Clinical trial registration no. NCT02143102 © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article. An earlier incorrect version of this article appeared online. This article was corrected on September 15, 2017.

How the Integration of Pathology in the Gross Anatomy Laboratory Affects Medical Students.

PROBLEM: The main objective of this project was to integrate pathologists into the gross anatomy laboratory setting to increase the exposure that early medical students receive to pathologists as clinicians. INTERVENTION: Pathologists visited the gross anatomy laboratory 3 times throughout the 15-week course to assist medical students in determining the cause of death of the cadaver being dissected. CONTEXT: This intervention was implemented with 1st-semester medical students for 2 consecutive years (a total of 100 dissection teams consisting of 4 students in each team). OUTCOME: A quantitative content analysis was performed on the students' end of the course assignments to determine whether the students learned a greater percentage of pathologic information by having interactions with pathologists in the gross lab and to identify trends in the way medical students diagnosed their "first patient" (i.e., the cadaver). The students who had interactions with pathologists in the laboratory had significantly more pathology in their narrative than the students who did not receive pathologist interaction. They were also more likely to conclude that the cadaver they dissected actually died from a cause other than the one listed on the death certificate (18.3%; n = 15) compared to the students who had no pathologist interaction (1.8%; n = 2). A postintervention survey indicated that 65% of students felt that interaction with pathologists helped them understand the clinical application of gross anatomy, more than 40% become more interested in pathology, and 74% would have liked to have had more pathologist interaction. LESSONS LEARNED: This intervention demonstrated a way to increase pathologist interaction within the undergraduate medical curriculum and enhance the educational environment of the gross anatomy laboratory.

Clinical, Biomechanical, and Anatomic Investigation of Colles Fascia and Pubic Ramus Periosteum for Use During Medial Thighplasty.

INTRODUCTION: The medial thighplasty is a procedure where patients may attain superior mobility, hygiene, and cosmesis. Most surgeons use attachment of the superficial fascial system (SFS) of the thigh flap to the Colles fascia, whereas others attach the SFS to the pubic ramus periosteum. Because of a high complication profile, we aim to elucidate the clinical, biomechanical, and anatomic qualities of the Colles fascia versus the pubic ramus periosteum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a 17-year retrospective review documenting clinical complications, a biomechanical analysis of sutures placed in different tissue layers of the thigh, and a histologic analysis surrounding the ischiopubic ramus. Separate suture pull-out strength testing was conducted on cadaveric tissue using an Admet MTEST Quattro with no. 1 Vicryl suture and tissue grips at a displacement rate of 2.12 mm/s. Simultaneous displacement and force were acquired at 100 Hz and with measurements obtained at regular intervals between the pubic symphysis and the ischial tuberosity in both the Colles fascia and the deeper periosteal layers of the thigh. A histologic analysis was performed at 3 points along the ischiopubic ramus using paraffin-embedded large mount tissue sections stained with hematoxylin, eosin, and Gomori trichrome. RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients underwent medial thighplasty with a 46.16% complication rate. Suture pull-out force of the suspected superficial Colles fascia sites was, on average, 72.8% less than values from the deeper periosteum tissue. Anchor points in the Colles fascia elongated 17.4% further before failure than those in the periosteum. There was noticeable variability between anchor points and across samples. The histologic sections suggest that the Colles fascia from the different regions of the ischiopubic ramus varies considerably in both continuity and collagen fiber content with no discernible pattern. The periosteal and muscular fascial layers were more continuous histologically with direct attachments into the pubis and ischium. CONCLUSIONS: Anchoring of the SFS to the periosteum did not improve our complication profile when compared with the literature. Both the biomechanical and histologic analyses demonstrate that the Colles fascia is highly variable in organizations with coincident variability in tissue strength. Our results require further study to identify the optimal surgical technique for medial thighplasty.

Anxiety, PTSD, and stressors in medical students during the initial peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PURPOSE: To assess psychological effects of the initial peak phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on United States (US) medical students in clinical training to anticipate sequelae and prepare for future outbreaks. METHODS: Authors emailed a cross-sectional survey in April-May, 2020 to students in clinical training years at six US medical schools which included validated General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and Primary Care-PTSD (PC-PTSD-5) screening tools, and asked students about pandemic-related stress and specific concerns. Authors used quantitative and thematic analysis to present results. RESULTS: Of 2511 eligible students, 741 responded (29.5%). Most students (84.1%) reported at least "somewhat" increased levels of stress and anxiety related to the pandemic. On the GAD-7, 34.3% showed mild, 16.1% moderate, and 9.5% severe anxiety symptoms, with 39.6% demonstrating no/minimal symptoms. One quarter (25.4%) screened positive for PTSD risk symptoms. Top concerns of students chosen from a pre-populated list included inadequate COVID-19 testing, undiagnosed or asymptomatic spread and racial or other disparities in the pandemic. In thematic analysis, students' reactions to removal from clinical learning included: understanding the need to conserve PPE (32.2%), a desire to help (27.7%), worry over infectious risk to others (25.4%) and self (21.2%), and lost learning opportunities (22.5%). Female students were significantly more likely to report anxiety and PTSD risk symptoms. Asian students had a greater risk of moderate anxiety and those underrepresented in medicine (UIM) had greater risk of moderate and severe anxiety symptoms compared to white students. CONCLUSIONS: During the initial peak phase of COVID-19, over 60% of US medical students screened positive for pandemic-related anxiety and one quarter were at risk for PTSD. Female and UIM students were significantly more affected. Medical schools should consider broad support of students, and targeted outreach to female and UIM students.

The histopathologic reliability of tissue taken from cadavers within the gross anatomy laboratory.

The purpose of this study was to examine the histopathologic reliability of embalmed cadaveric tissue taken from the gross anatomy laboratory. Tissue samples from hearts, livers, lungs, and kidneys were collected after the medical students' dissection course was completed. All of the cadavers were embalmed in a formalin-based fixative solution. The tissue was processed, embedded in paraffin, sectioned at six micrometers, and stained with H&E. The microscope slides were evaluated by a board certified pathologist to determine whether the cellular components of the tissues were preserved at a high enough quality to allow for histopathologic diagnosis. There was a statistically significant relationship between ratings and organ groups. Across all organs, there was a smaller proportion of "poor" ratings. The lung group had the highest percentage of "poor" ratings (23.1%). The heart group had the least "poor" ratings (0.0%). The largest percentage of "satisfactory" ratings were in the lung group (52.8%), and the heart group contained the highest percentage of "good" ratings (58.5%) The lung group had the lowest percentage of "good" ratings (24.2%). These results indicate that heart tissue is more reliable than lung, kidney, or liver tissue when utilizing tissue from the gross anatomy laboratory for research and/or educational purposes. This information advises educators and researchers about the quality and histopathologic reliability of tissue samples obtained from the gross anatomy laboratory. Anat Sci Educ 11: 207-214. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.

Postmortem Aortic Dissection: An Artifact of the Embalming Process.

Aortic dissection (AD) is a serious condition that affects 3/100,000 individuals a year. Recently, a case report was published describing an embalmed patient with an aortic dissection. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of AD among 80 embalmed cadavers and confirm the AD with histopathologic evaluation. In seven cases of grossly identified AD, six were determined to be due to the embalming procedure and only one case of true antemortem AD was confirmed. These results suggest that aortic morphology can be altered by administration of the embalming fluid and that alterations can mimic AD, not only on gross inspection but also on postmortem imaging. Awareness of this embalming artifact may prevent misdiagnosis of an aortic dissection in an embalmed patient, a point particularly useful for autopsy pathology that may include postmortem examination of an embalmed patient.

The integration of brain dissection within the medical neuroscience laboratory enhances learning.

The purpose of this study was to design a one-hour brain dissection protocol for a medical neuroscience course and evaluate the short and long-term effects of its implementation on medical students. First-year medical students (n = 166) participated in a brain dissection activity that included dissection of the basal nuclei and associated deep brain structures. Short-term retention was assessed by administering identical pre- and post-activity tests involving identification of brain structures. Following the brain dissection, the students' posttest scores were significantly higher (68.8% ± 17.8%; mean percent score ± SD) than their pretest scores (35.8% ± 20.0%) (P ≤ 0.0001). Long-term retention was evaluated by conducting an identical assessment five months after completion of the course. Students who participated in the dissection activity (n = 80) had significantly higher scores (46.6% ± 23.8%) than the students who did not participate in the dissection activity (n = 85) (38.1% ± 23.9%) (P ≤ 0.05). In addition to the long-term retention assessment, the NBME® Subject Examination scores of students who participated in the dissection activity were significantly higher than the students who did not participate in the dissection activity (P ≤ 0.01). Results suggest that this succinct brain dissection activity may be a practical addition to an undergraduate medical neuroscience course for increasing the effectiveness of neuroanatomy training. This effect may have long-term benefits on knowledge retention and may be correlated with higher performance levels on standardized subject examinations. Anat Sci Educ 9: 565-574. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.