Since its outbreak in 2019, COVID-19 has significantly impacted human lives worldwide. It has caused millions of deaths globally, as well as profound confusion and turmoil among medical professionals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical professionals have realized the challenges of controlling infectious diseases and the need to update their knowledge and skills to manage them better. This study examines physicians’ experiences of COVID-19 through an alumni survey conducted at Asahikawa Medical University faculty of medicine in Japan (final sample: 3,105 alumni since the university’s establishment in 1973). It draws important implications to enhance continuing education to prepare for future pandemics. An online questionnaire was developed and administered to investigate the alumni’s experiences with COVID-19, as well as their medical specialty and opinions on medical education. The response rate was 21.9%, with 680 responses collected out of the 3,105 questionnaires sent. Results show that the top three important items from participants’ experiences are infectious disease control and prevention (90.7%), acquisition of accurate knowledge on infectious diseases (85.1%), and providing accurate information on infectious diseases (83.6%). Furthermore, multiple coders conducted content analysis of free text data regarding other important elements. They identified the following major themes: information literacy, difficulty in risk management, medical treatment and healthcare system, and prejudice against medical workers and their families. Continuing education can be improved by incorporating alumni’s experiences with COVID-19 to better prepare for future pandemics.

Background: The management of medical student examinations has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating measures to prevent overcrowding at the entry/exit flow line of the examination room. Specifically, one method to mitigate congestion at the examination room exit is to allow students to leave early after completing their exams.

Methods: This study utilized the regular final examination in emergency medicine for fourth-year medical students at Hirosaki University. Students were permitted to leave the room early, up until 20 minutes before the 60-minute examination period concluded. We included 130 participants in the study and conducted a multiple logistic regression analysis with the test score (higher (1) or lower (0) than the average score) as the dependent variable and the presence or absence of early withdrawal, gender, bachelor transfer status, and regional quota student status as independent variables.

Results: Of the 130 fourth-year medical students included in the study, 14 (10.8%) left the exam room early. The multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that bachelor transfer students (odds ratio (OR) = 4.20, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.24-14.18) and female students (OR = 2.56, 95%CI 1.24-5.25) tended to achieve statistically significantly higher scores. However, early leavers (OR = 1.78, 95%CI 0.53-5.95) and regional quota students (OR = 1.72, 95%CI 0.78-3.78) did not exhibit a significant association with the highest scores.

Discussion: We found that there is no significant association between early exit of medical students and exam scores in our emergency medicine examinations. Therefore, implementing early dismissal can be justified as a measure to ensure a smooth flow of students when leaving the room.

　In Japan, the standards for establishing universities were revised in September 2022. Universities have accumulated considerable experience through the COVID-19 pandemic, including in distance education. In this revision, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology has opened the door to implementing educational methods and credit recognition that were not permitted under the current ministry ordinances, as a 'special system' (Tokurei-seido). It is necessary for universities to accumulate the results of social experiments, such as the 'special system' (Tokurei-seido), and utilize them in future revisions of the standards.

　Overseas, the pandemic has spurred debates about whether medical students should be considered learners who need protection or as essential workers. In the UK, medical students graduated early and transitioned to clinical training sooner during the pandemic. This trend was in contrast to the United States, where medical students were isolated from clinical practices. The pandemic has disrupted the sequence of basic sciences, clinical sciences, and clinical clerkships. Medical students were unable to gain sufficient clinical experience during clinical clerkships. Despite the lack of study time in classrooms and clerkship rotations in clinical settings, medical students were promoted, graduated, and transitioned to clinical training. In this context, there are discussions about competency-based, time-variable (CBTV) education, which focuses on the competencies learners acquire rather than the amount of instructional time.