Coronavirus disease has upended nearly every industry, and medical education is no exception. Due to the widespread uncertainty and the dynamic COVID-19 situation, classes, exams, clinical clerkships, and extracurricular activities are cancelled. Many students find it difficult to spend their time at home. Students are finding new and exciting ways to keep themselves engaged during the quarantine. Some are accepting Instagram challenges, doing group events, while others are trying a new sport, playing online games, watching TV shows, and arranging Zoom meetings with friends.

During this coronavirus pandemic, aspiring and current medical students can do a lot of productive things to deal with the inevitable anxiety and fear. It is a great time for premedical students to strengthen their medical school applications and bolster their chances of getting admitted to a top medical school. Current medical students can make the most of this time by reading healthcare books, enrolling in online courses, volunteering from home, and a lot more.

Let’s check out some interesting activities that medical students can do from home to improve their knowledge and skills during the COVID-19 lockdown.

1. Listen to Podcasts

A podcast is the easiest way to promote your personal and academic growth. Medical students all around the globe are using podcasts as a great learning tool as it offers advice, interviews, and discussions on different topics, including research, physicians, patient care, public health, and a lot more. The internet is filled with many informative podcasts that offer useful information and fresh perspectives on recent medical advancements and patient care.

Here are some of the best podcast recommendations for medical students:

• The Short Coat Podcast
• AFP Podcast
• The Curbsiders
• Talking Admissions and Med Student Life
• OldPreMeds Podcast
• Dear Premed
• Radiolab More Perfect
• The Nocturnists
• Academic Medicine Podcast

 

2. Enroll in Online Courses

Getting yourself enrolled in different online programs is one of the most interesting activities that you can do during this coronavirus lockdown. It is a great idea to increase your medical knowledge and gain medical work experience from the comfort of your home. These programs are designed to give you clear insight into different roles of physicians, the way they deal with patients, challenges they face, hospital life, and a lot more.

Some online programs will give prospective medical applicants insights into primary care so that they will learn primary and secondary care before they embark on the medical school journey. While some online courses will help you understand how to work in a healthcare setting, how it is like to work in wards, how the hospital runs, and a lot more.

3. Subscribe to YouTube Channels

There is no denying the fact that YouTube is the best learning tool for medical students that help them understand the intricate concepts by visual explanation. In fact, it is an interesting way to learn and memorize the sheer amount of course material with great illustrations. Luckily, there are many YouTube channels that provide interesting educational videos for medical students. You can make the best use your time during coronavirus quarantine by watching these YouTube channels for medical students.

• Khan Academy Medicine
• Osmosis
• Armando Hasudungan
• Najeeb
• AnatomyZone
• Pharmacology Animation
• Paul Bolin, M.D.
• MedCram Videos
• iMedicalSchool
• WashingtonDeceit
• Aman Arora

 

4. Read Interesting Books

It is the best time for medical students to read books other than core curriculum. Reading medical books will not only develop a better understanding of healthcare, but it will also allow you to gain deeper insights from doctors, surgeons, attending physicians, residents, interns and healthcare professionals from the comfort of your home. You will learn about different aspects of medical field, the good and bad of medicine and improve your educational experience.

Here are some books suggestions for medical students:

• The Devil Wears Scrubs by Freida McFadden
• When Breath Become Air by Paul Kalanithi
• Complications by Atul Gawande
• In Stitches by Anthony Youn
• Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd
• This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
• A Case of Need by Michael Crichton
• William Osler: A Life in Medicine by Michael Bliss
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
• Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
• Do No Harm by Henry Marsh

 

5. Follow Physicians on Social Media

It’s so easy to spend unlimited hours on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook, especially when you are stuck inside and don’t have any other activity during the quarantine. However, you can make your social media time productive by following doctors, surgeons, and residents on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook who offer realistic insights into life at medical school, share their reviews on the latest medical advancements, provide helpful medical school application tips, and a lot more.

Here is a list of doctors and professors who regularly update their social media accounts, share their real-life experiences, informative videos, residency life experience, medical tips, latest healthcare news, and a lot more.

• Howard Luks, MD
• Alex M. McDonald, MD
• John Mandrola, MD
• Kevin Pho, MD
• Myrone Rolle, MD, MSC
• Julie Silver, MD
• Wendy Sue Swanson, MD
• Eric Topol, MD
• Mike Varshavaski, DO

Final Verdict

Doing these activities will improve your academic performance and develop your skills required to become a competent medical student. These activities will keep you on top of medical breakthroughs, and research, if you have any other activities in your mind that you can do during this lockdown, share with us.