ArticleBMJ open2024
Sustained impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical student learning and well-being in rural Australia: findings from a repeated national multicentre survey.
Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Perceptions of Improved Wellbeing and Social Isolation Among Medical Students During Rural Clinical School (RCS) Placements: A Six-Year Analysis.The Australian journal of rural health · 2026Article
- Place-based rural health professional pre-registration education programs: a scoping review.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe impact of COVID-19 on medical students has predominantly been assessed by one-off survey studies at the pandemic onset. This national study investigated the sustained impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students' rural clinical placement learning and well-being.
designRepeated cross-sectional survey design.
settingAnnual Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators (FRAME) survey across 2020 to 2022.
participantsMedical students completing an extended (mostly 12 months) rural placement. OUTCOME MEASURE: A mixed-methods survey with closed-ended and open-ended question. Quantitative data were analysed using χ
resultsQuantitative findings: in 2022 (43%), respondents were more likely to interact with COVID-19 patients in a clinical capacity compared with 2020 (26%) and 2021 (23%; p<0.001). Respondents were more likely to be concerned about missed clinical learning in 2020 (58%) than in 2021 (40%) and 2022 (44%; p<0.001). Respondents in 2020 (41%) and 2022 (39%) were more likely to feel that their performance on assessments was affected by COVID-19 compared with 2021 respondents (28%; p<0.001). Respondents in 2022 (38%) and 2021 (31%) were more likely to report being exposed to an increased breadth of cases than 2020 respondents (13%; p<0.001) and also reported more exposure to community-based placements (2022: 38%, 2021: 31%, 2020: 19%; p<0.001).Qualitative findings: three categories were developed from the data-mental health and well-being impacts, learning preferences at play, and concerns about flow-on effects.
conclusionsWhile the pandemic has now become the 'new normal', the mental well-being and learning concerns raised by students in rural Australia, and their concerns about sustained impacts into their internship cannot be ignored. Healthcare organisations need to ensure that when impacted students enter the workforce the practice context is supportive, with mechanisms such as effective clinical supervision in place.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.