key: cord-290815-08rafcek authors: McMaster, David; Veremu, Munashe; Santucci, Catherine title: COVID‐19: opportunities for professional development and disruptive innovation date: 2020-05-28 journal: Clin Teach DOI: 10.1111/tct.13175 sha: doc_id: 290815 cord_uid: 08rafcek nan A s a group of medical students from the United Kingdom (UK), we currently find ourselves in a period of uncertainty as the continuing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused widespread disruption to medical education. Our medical schools, like many others, have cancelled clinical placements, formal teaching, examinations and international elective programmes. Despite these challenges, we believe that the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic is generating opportunities for both professional development and innovation in medical education. Social distancing is the most effective preventative strategy for COVID-19, but for many medical students this creates a gap where previously there were clinical attachments, a seemingly infinite syllabus and looming examinations. This unplanned interruption offers a unique opportunity for professional development, which may otherwise be missed, with the chance to consolidate learning, reflect on personal career plans and engage in academic research. Reflection helps us to process experiences and is a powerful way to facilitate learning. With over 60 specialties, and often limited exposure during medical school, choosing a career path in medicine can be daunting. There are many advantages in having a specialty This unplanned interruption offers a unique opportunity for professional development, which may otherwise be missed, … interest when at medical school, and during this period it may be useful for those still unsure to reflect on past experiences and to consider their academic interests and what factors they value most in their careers. Learning to critically evaluate research to inform future evidence-based practice is an essential skill that medical students must develop and, unsurprisingly, time constraints are often the greatest barrier to involvement in research. 1 The General Medical Council recommends keeping up to date with current research in an individual's area of interest through independent study and by conducting literature searches and reviews. During the COVID-19 pandemic there will be barriers to engaging in laboratory-and hospital-based research; however, there is great value in performing systematic reviews of the literature and in taking part in qualitative research projects that may be conducted remotely, all of which will improve skills and strengthen applications to future training posts. We already know many fellow medical students engaging in reviews, video teaching, app development and even online language courses during self-isolation. Medical schools are rapidly trying to adapt their methods of teaching and assessment to accommodate the nationwide lockdown. During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic of 2003, Chinese medical schools cancelled clinical teaching and examinations. This led to the implementation of novel online problem-based learning that was so successful it was subsequently integrated into the curriculum. 2 Similar to then, online teaching will play a key role in the continuation of the curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic, with highly reproducible content accessible to students at home. During this rapid restructuring there are opportunities to strengthen engagement by involving students in the planning and execution of learning resources. Evidence shows that involving students as stakeholders in their education adds value and fosters intrinsic motivation, which strongly correlates with selfefficacy and academic performance. 3 We encourage medical schools to actively engage with students to call on their ingenuity and to develop these resources, which may benefit medical education in the long term and motivate future educators. The COVID-19 pandemic is catalysing an enduring transformation in medicine, with advances in telemedicine, disease surveillance and artificial intelligence, which have already been used to triage infected patients. We are experiencing an unparalleled boom in crossindustry cooperation to combat this virus, bringing together pharmaceutical, biomedical, data analytic and computational drug discovery companies with a singular goal. In the UK, we have seen airplane manufacturers, carmakers and Formula One teams repurpose their production lines to build ventilators to cope with rising demand. Johns Hopkins University has developed an interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time, and researchers at King's College London have created a COVID-19 symptom tracker app with more than 1.5 million downloads. 4 Disruptive events, such as economic recessions and pandemics, can advance innovation, and there are opportunities here for resourceful initiatives in medical education. Students at Harvard Medical School have already created a rapidly updating COVID-19 curriculum, with the latest research and developments, that is benefiting many clinicians. 5 In summary, as medical students affected by this global disruption, we see a rare opportunity for professional development in an otherwise heavily structured degree. In addition, innovation driven by medical students during this viral pandemic may accelerate the continuing transformation away from traditional teaching methods in medical education. Analysing the effects of this change, and professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic will have a lasting benefit for medical and scientific communities, and a long-lasting impact on future clinicians' practice. ... there are opportunities to strengthen engagement by involving students in the planning and execution of learning resources Extracurricular participation in research and audit by medical students: opportunities, obstacles, motivation and outcomes SARS and its effect on medical education in Hong Kong Empowering medical students as agents of curricular change: a value-added approach to student engagement in medical education An interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time Harvard Medical School students mobilize Ethical approval: Not applicable.