Objective: Previous research has shown that early interaction with family physicians positively influences medical students' perceptions and attitudes towards family medicine as a career. While students acknowledge the important role family physicians play in the community there was a perception that family medicine was below hospital specialties or respected less. This study sought to elucidate if this had changed due to the covid-19 pandemic restricting placements.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using an anonymous self-administered online survey sent to students enrolled at the University of the West Indies

Results: 23% reported a change in their desired career following the COVID-19 pandemic primarily due to being exposed to different specialties during clinical rotations. The greatest influencer to pursue FM was found to be having a good personal experience with their family physician. Students associated FM with continuity of care, holistic care, career flexibility, and being community based. They recognised FM as having an important role in society but felt that it did not have a high status in the medical profession. They also felt that their peers and non-FM doctors would associate FM with being less intellectually challenging. The majority of participants had not experienced any negative attitude toward family doctors.

Conclusions: The majority of students reported a positive attitude towards FM. The greatest influence on this was the students’ experience with their own family physician. Negative attitudes towards FM stem from a belief that non-FM doctors, other medical staff and their peers hold FM in low regard. The students' views of FM as a career were not directly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic but their own experience with managing their health became a more prominent positive influence compared to previous studies.

At the conclusiong attendees will take away;
1. what the current perceptions of medical students of the Caribbean are regarding family medicine as a career
2. what influences these perceptions
3. the impact COVID-19 had on medical students career choices

COVID-19 has had a disruptive and varied impact on medical education throughout the world. Medical schools in some countries (such as Zambia) continued to function without disruption to undergraduate medical education, with students joining the front lines of COVID-19 response. In other countries, such as Uganda, prolonged and severe lock-downs led to medical school closures, resulting in the delay of medical school graduates to enter the workforce at the precise moment when they were most needed to support the health system. In still other countries, such as the United States and South Africa, the impact fell in between, with medical schools remaining open while many students found their clinical rotations converted to online or virtual experiences, in order to ensure their safety during a time when the transmission patterns and infectivity of the virus were not fully known. In these settings, the impact on medical education has had a long-lasting impact, as undergraduate medical students with dramatically less hands-on clinical experience and reduced clinical preparedness than their predecessors enter into clinical practice and graduate medical education programs.
During this roundtable presentation, speakers from the United States and South Africa will lead a discussion on how their medical schools and residency training programs have responded to ensure the clinical competency of these students and respond to training disruptions. The strategies discussed will have utility in many situations, including future pandemics as well as times of social and political unrest, environmental disasters, and many other situations.

• Learn about how other medical training institutions have responded to the disruptions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the quality and consistency of undergraduate medical education
• Identify and share strategies for ensuring competency of medical school undergraduates as they transition into clinical practice and postgraduate training programs