"There is no single culprit responsible for this shift in medical education. However, two, in particular, should be noted. The first is the culture of defensive medicine, or more bluntly, CYA (cover-your-ass) medicine. This culture has been insidiously infusing itself within the modern health care system for decades. The fear of being sued for malpractice is ever-present. Undoubtedly, this has led to hesitations in allowing medical students to be involved in patient care. Another important consideration is our capitalistic health care system. In an era when physicians are being pressured by hospitals to see more patients, coupled with intense bureaucratic demands and documentation requirements, it is no secret that learners slow down productivity and drive down the bottom line. As a result, education suffers.

What is the consequence of all of this? The 'finish line' keeps getting pushed back further and further. More resident physicians are deciding to pursue fellowship before becoming an attending. For instance, in the field of general surgery, 80 percent of residents decide to pursue a fellowship. It is unclear how this will affect patient care in the future. Undoubtedly though, it begins at the medical student level. The decision to remove medical students from the hospitals in the midst of this crisis is the ultimate reflection of a much larger problem, that being, the regression of the role of medical students."

Clayton Korson is a medical student.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Medical students are benched during the pandemic." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/medical-students-are-benched-during-the-pandemic.html)

This episode is sponsored by The Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX). The Nuance DAX solution makes it possible to forget the tech-toggling and reduces documentation burdens no matter how or where care is being provided. (www.kevinmd.com/nuancedax)