For Mohamed Diop, a fourth-year medical student at Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the transition to online learning has been a bumpy one. “The downside to online learning is that I can’t participate in helpful simulations for my advanced cardiovascular life support and basic life support certificate,” said the 26-year-old Diop. “These certifications require me to physically learn how to do CPR and resuscitate patients, and it is impossible to learn virtually.”

 

That wasn’t the only adjustment. Diop also had a radiology rotation canceled before now completing a rotation as a head and neck surgeon. His graduation ceremony was also rescheduled a monthly to a virtual event on April 15. 

 

But he’s already putting what he’s learned to work. Diop now volunteers, working remotely from his home in Washington Heights as a nonresident physician at Columbia New York-Presbyterian Hospital in the Telehealth Department, where he calls high-risk patients and screens them for COVID-19.