Medical pedagogy in the time of COVID-19. (COVID-19 special issue.)

Clinical methods - the skills doctors use to diagnose and treat disease - are best learnt by the bedside of real patients Over time, experience and maturity, the methods do evolve and change as new techniques and new concepts arise, but the start of this learning curve begins at the bedside, or in the clinic and with an educator teaching you how clinical examination is done, by example But to flatten the curve, medical education is being imparted as virtual teaching in the form of recorded lectures, webinars and live-streams But this unquestionably hampers the real time feedback and 'back-and forth' that develops in the class While e-classes can teach the theory of medicine, it cannot replicate the practise of medicine The skills of therapeutic touch required during examination and treatment, compassion, empathy etc cannot be taught using AV modalities Lack of social Interaction barricades the growth of teamwork and communication skills, which will prepare the future doctors for effective, comprehensive patient care and multidisciplinary, inter-professional practice While this is a time for both students and medical educators to help contribute to the advance of medical education, and to formulate skills for the times ahead, this could also be the defining time in history while the new code of medical education is written