**4. Remote learning – broader implications**

The pandemic has brought us an unprecedented increase and the use of remote learning. While the subject matter itself may be well conveyed via such remote strategies, there are less tangible aspects of medical education that may be lost in the process. In-person learning allows more readily for student socializing, fostering a sense of community. Indeed, without it, we have seen a marked increase in student self-reports of isolation, anxiety, and depression [33]. Those students also report decreased satisfaction with their medical education [33]. In addition to these potentially devastating consequences, there may be evidence that a weak or nonexistent "classroom community" may harm students' preparedness and performance clinically [34]. This community can build students' communication and teamwork skills both formally via targeted educational programming and informally via the natural proceedings of classroom and group work interactions - what may often be referred to as the hidden curriculum [34, 35].

The students' community is not the only one at risk in remote learning, but also those connections between students and educators, which would normally allow for the less tangible benefits of education. Without this, students may find it difficult to establish a mentorship, which has been shown to be necessary for the ideal professional growth of medical professionals [34, 36]. Educators may lose the reward that is feeling the successful engagement of students during an educational session or witnessing the students' growth and graduation to more complex material and roles. Additionally, it may be difficult for faculty to role model appropriate attitudes and behaviors over remote learning modalities [37, 38].
