Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Inpatient Pediatric Medical Student Education in Hawai'i

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many effects on medical student education, ranging from safety measures limiting patient exposure to changes in patient diagnoses encountered by medical students in their clerkship experience. This study aimed to identify the impact of the pandemic on the inpatient experiences of third- and fourth-year medical students by assessing patient volumes and diagnoses seen by students. Frequency and types of notes written by medical students on hospital-based pediatric rotations at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children as well as patient diagnoses and ages were compared between 2 time periods: pre-pandemic (July 2018-February 2020) and pandemic (May 2020-September 2021). On average, the number of patients seen by medical students was significantly reduced in the pandemic period from 112 patients/month to 88 patients/month ( =.041). The proportion of patients with bronchiolitis or pneumonia were also significantly reduced in the pandemic period (