Impact of COVID-19 on Medical Students Aspiring Toward a Career in Otolaryngology: A Medical Student’s Perspective

Abstract

While its adverse impacts on health care setups are conspicuous, coronavirus disease 2019 continues to impede medical education. Exponential increases in the number of cases globally lend to the implementation of a nationwide lockdown. In Europe in general and Ireland in particular, the lockdown significantly limits medical students’ clinical exposure and access to clinical sites. For medical students, this portends numerous implications, such as limited patient contact and an inability to explore the various medical and surgical specialties in profundity. Nevertheless, medical students continue to aspire to pursue various specialties—including otolaryngology—for which the clinical contact remains exceedingly limited.