Grit has been studied as a factor to success since 1892.21st century investigations have shown an association between Grit and medical school performance.  The study’s goal was to determine what relationship Grit had in the preclinical and clinical years of medical school to the trends in specialty selection after the occurrence of a worldwide pandemic (COVID-19).

We performed a prospective longitudinal study at a single institution, approved by the OUHSC IRB, by administering a 12-point Grit questionnaire and requesting students select their top two specialties of interest.  For statistical analysis, students were divided into pre-Covid and post-Covid based on the time of completion of the questionnaire before or after March 2020.

84% of participants responded to our survey.  Overall Grit score for the pre COVID cohort was 3.71±0.48 and for the post COVID group 3.70±0.45 (p=0.96).  For students choosing primary care, the mean Grit score of the pre COVID group was 3.71±0.48 and post COVID 3.70±0.45 (p=0.58).  The respective percentage of the class choosing primary care was 60% and 58% (p=0.73)

There was no significant difference in GRIT between the pre and post COVID cohorts.  The average GRIT score of our students who chose Primary care did not differ pre and post covid and neither did the number of students who chose Primary Care.