To say a lot has changed since my last blog post would be an understatement. Much like the rest of the country, my school transitioned to remote online learning back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a change which threw everyone for a bit of a loop. For us especially this was a very hard transition on both students and faculty, given that almost all our classes are taught via “active learning,” meaning that class time is spent working through patient cases in groups so that we can engage in peer teaching and problem solving. This proved to be rather difficult in the midst of quarantining and social distancing. Luckily for me, my friends agreed to hold daily morning Zoom calls so that we could replicate some type of active learning environment and work through the class material together (a process that we lovingly and jokingly referred to as WebMD). It may not have been perfect every time, but it was something to get me out of bed early in the morning and establish some type of routine to my day.

What I really miss, however, is going to class and learning from the clinicians. Despite all the effort and changes being implemented by administration, I can’t help but feel there’s a huge part of my education that just can’t be replaced during remote learning. One example of this is the cancellation of our “Doctoring in Vermont” course, during which each student was assigned a physician in the community to work with every week. I personally also lost out on an incredible opportunity this summer, as I was supposed to partake in a global health elective and travel to Thailand for six weeks to work and shadow at one of the country’s major medical centers (but fingers crossed I still get to go during my fourth year).

But amidst everything happening in the world and all the changes being thrown at us, I still wouldn’t change where I am in my life. I’ve thought a lot about how unique of an opportunity it is to be in medical school during the pandemic. Every day we are reminded of the universality of healthcare and the importance of our frontline workers; and every day I am reminded of why I want to be a part of that world. Through communication with faculty and administration, I’ve gotten to watch how the hospital changed and rose to meet the challenges of the pandemic, and it’s so interesting to see how those changes will continue to shape the way we practice medicine beyond this time. In relation to this, one of my projects for the summer is to work with a program called VCHIP (Vermont Child Health Improvement Program) which works with the Department of Health in Vermont. I’ll be helping to collect data from pediatric and family practices throughout the state in an effort to track how pediatric care has changed in the setting of COVID-19 and to help ensure the standards of practice for treating children are maintained and optimized now and going forward.

One of the things I am most grateful for however is to be in Burlington, VT during this time. We’ve been lucky thus far that cases have been relatively low compared to a lot of other areas in the country, and our hospital system has been successful at keeping up with the patient volume and demand. Burlington also has an abundance of outdoor activities and is situated right on the beautiful Lake Champlain, which is where I’ve been doing a majority of my studying. Just being able to spend a day outside on the water, go on a hike, or sneak out to the beach late at night for a bonfire has made such a huge difference now that the weather is being friendly to us again. So yes, times are incredibly difficult, but every so often you can catch a glimpse of a silver lining and things get just a little bit better. As always I’d love to answer any questions about medical school, pre-med life, applications, Vermont, anything! Pops Love to everyone, and I hope this finds you happy and healthy.

6/30/20

Tiffany Lao | Michigan Pops Orchestra Class of 2017 | University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine | Class of 2023 | tiffany.lao@med.uvm.edu