Converting to Connect: A Rapid RE‐AIM Evaluation of the Digital Conversion of a Clerkship Curriculum in the Age of COVID‐19

Abstract Background With the advent of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic, a decision was made to remove medical students from clinical rotations for their own safety This forced students on a core Emergency Medicine rotation at McMaster University to immediately cease all in person activities An urgent need for a virtual curriculum emerged Methods A virtual curriculum consisting of asynchronous case-based learning on Slack, ask-me-anything webinars and online e-modules was created to fill the need We describe a program evaluation using the RE-AIM framework and a social networking analysis of participants Results Medical students (n=23) and 11 facilitators (5 residents, 6 faculty members) participated in this pilot study Faculty members sent an average of 115 messages (n=6, SD=117), average message counts for students and residents were 49 96 (n=23, SD= 25), and 39 (n=5, SD=38), respectively Total of 62,237 words were written by the participants, with an average of 1831 per person Each message consisted of an average 25 words (SD=29) Students rapidly acquitted themselves to digital technology Using the RE-AIM framework we highlight the feasibility of a virtual curriculum, discuss demands on faculty time and reflect on strategies to engage learners Conclusions The use of asynchronous digital curricula creates opportunities for faculty-resident interaction and engagement We report the successful deployment of a viable model for undergraduate Emergency Medicine training for senior medical students in the COVID-19 era of physical distancing