Pediatric Intern Clinical Exposure During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Pediatric health care encounters declined during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and pediatric residency programs have adapted trainee schedules to meet the needs of this changing clinical environment. We sought to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on pediatric interns’ clinical exposure. METHODS In this retrospective cohort study, we quantified patient exposure among pediatric interns from a single large pediatric residency program at a freestanding children’s hospital. Patient encounters and shifts per pediatric intern in the inpatient and emergency department settings were evaluated during the COVID-19 pandemic, from March to June 2020, as compared with these 3 months in 2019. Patient encounters by diagnosis were also evaluated. RESULTS The median number of patient encounters per intern per 2-week block declined on the pediatric hospital medicine service (37.5 vs 27.0; P CONCLUSIONS Pediatric interns at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic were exposed to fewer patients and had reduced clinical schedules. Careful consideration is needed to track and supplement missed clinical experiences during the pandemic.