Andrea Batchev, September 3rd, 2024
Title
Andrea Batchev, September 3rd, 2024
Description
In this interview, MD/PhD student Andrea (Andie) Batchev shares her experience with starting medical school during the pandemic.
Publisher
Detroit Historical Society
Rights
Detroit Historical Society
Language
en-US
Narrator/Interviewee's Name
Andrea Batchev
Interviewer's Name
Taylor Claybrook
Date
9/3/2024
Interview Length
11:54
Transcription
Taylor Claybrook: [00:00:06] Okay. Today is September 3rd, 2024. My name is Taylor Claybrook and I'm sitting down with...
Andrea Batchev: [00:00:14] Andrea Batchev.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:00:15] Okay. Thank you for doing this interview. So I want to start by asking what was your initial reaction to hearing about Covid when it was spreading and then when the lockdown finally happened?
Andrea Batchev: [00:00:26] I think I first heard about it in December, and I didn't really think too much of it. I was a senior in college in 2019. And yeah, when, you know, winter break and then shortly after in February, we started having more cases. And then the next thing. I knew, spring break was canceled. Oh, actually, it wasn't canceled or just extended, I guess. And then we just never went back.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:00:59] Where was undergrad for you?
Andrea Batchev: [00:01:02] The University of Oklahoma.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:01:03] Okay. And you are from ...you originally from Michigan?
Andrea Batchev: [00:01:07] Yeah, I'm from Downriver.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:01:09] Okay. So when you were in Oklahoma and then you had to come back to Michigan, what was that like?
Andrea Batchev: [00:01:15] I actually stayed in Oklahoma until, I started medical school at Wayne State. So I came back to Michigan mid July. And definitely I would say people, interacted with Covid very differently in Michigan than in Oklahoma. Oklahoma overall is a lot more spread out than Michigan. Smaller towns, different political demographics. I think Oklahoma, I would say people didn't mask as much or self-quarantine as much overall. So coming back to Michigan, it was a little bit different with everything being stricter and everything being closed down. And still not complete quarantining, but there were less events going on.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:02:17] And when you came back home, were you living with family?
Andrea Batchev: [00:02:20] Yeah, I lived with my family.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:02:21] Okay. What was that like?
Andrea Batchev: [00:02:23] It was kind of nice. Because I didn't have to worry. I didn't have to worry about finding an apartment. Or, some other housing. I didn't have to really worry about the safety of housing with the pandemic or, you know, the potential for disease spread. I could, you know, I was more self-contained. And I was able to do that pretty easily, too, since medical school was largely remote. And yeah, even though my parents live, like, 35 minutes away from campus, I really only needed to be on campus, like, a couple of times a week for anatomy lab the first semester until, November. All on campus activities were completely shut down with like a second wave of, quarantine after Thanksgiving spike. Expected Thanksgiving spike. It was also nice that I could save on rent. That was really nice.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:03:22] That's always nice.
Andrea Batchev: [00:03:23] It was super nice you know, I could, you know, come home to meals, you know, the grocery shop. Super. Super nice.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:03:32] Yeah. I like to ask that question because some people are like, I hated living at home again. And then other people are like, I actually like living at home because I got to save some money.
Andrea Batchev: [00:03:40] I do have to say that it was more isolating and the in the way that I didn't really know any of my peers until the second year of medical school and until activities resumed again. And there are some people who would say that, oh, like, no one knew each other, but definitely people who were in Detroit. And really in the same buildings or had the same friend groups were still like doing stuff and new people and making friends and connections. So yeah, it was a little bit more isolating.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:04:14] So for non-medical people, can you describe your department or just what you do at Wayne State?
Andrea Batchev: [00:04:21] So I am an MD, PhD, dual degree student. I describe it as a doctor sandwich, where the first two years, I complete the what's known as the preclinical years of medical school. It's a lot of book work. Anatomy lab, like some clinical involvement. And after the second year, you take Step One, which is a first board exam, and then you leave medical school to pursue a PhD in the middle, which lasts roughly four years. Once you finish all the requirements for a PhD and defend your dissertation, you go back to medical school for the last two years for clinical rotations and take the final board exam. And then graduate with two degrees and go on to either residency or postdoc or whatever afterwards.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:05:13] So you kind of talked about the transition from in-person to online. What was it like going back in-person and meeting all of these people that you'd been communicating with online, like during Covid?
Andrea Batchev: [00:05:25] So I still... I don't know. Well, even. So, my medical class is now graduated because I'm in the third year of my graduate degree and I definitely still, like, did not know everyone's name or face. There's like some people I've only heard of by name but never met before. I would say that when I started going back in person, it really wasn't that much in-person stuff. We had to do, was a clinical skills, but there's just, like, still kind of segregated out different groups for the last names and different time schedules. So there was only ike maybe like. 8 to 10 people at a time through that. We didn't have any of, like, the problem based learning sets that are usually in-person. We still had those all online. We were allowed to go into clinic for, was it a clinical experience or clerkship. But that's, that's not with other students. That's with a. Preceptor and, some sort of, some sort of practice. Yeah. So I don't really felt like I ever really was in person for medical school. It's almost entirely online for me. Yeah. On the other hand, starting graduate school was a more normal experience. All the classes were in person...I don't even know if we had to mask...For classes when I started.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:06:57] Yeah, I think they at least like on main campus, Wayne State started to lift a lot of their Covid restrictions fall of 2021. And then by winter 2022, it was like, you know, it was optional to do the campus screeners and wear a mask and stuff like that. But the next question that I wanted to ask you is, what kept you busy during lockdown?
Andrea Batchev: [00:07:25] I did a lot of outdoor activities, and I ran a lot. I biked a lot. I picked up a lot of hobbies. I started making sourdough bread. I taught myself how to play the ukulele. You know, caught up on a lot of Netflix shows. Too. During lockdown, I was living with roommates. At the time, so we all kind of, like, hung out together. And did things as well. As, I guess, roommates.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:07:58] What was it like living with roommates during Covid?
Andrea Batchev: [00:08:01] It was pretty easy. I lived with two roommates. One of them went home. It was really easy. There's not really too much there.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:08:12] What was it like interacting with your family when you came back home? What was it like interacting with your family that lived outside of your house during Covid?
Andrea Batchev: [00:08:20] It was pretty easy getting along with them, thankfully. I did lose the whole, like, you know, coming back home. You get that, like, week of privilege where they take you out to eat and, like, buy all the groceries you want, all your favorite foods. I kind of like lost that.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:08:34] But yeah. So I only asked that because a lot of people, they had like the zoom meetups with their family or like they would hang out in parks and be super far away from each other. Did you guys ever do anything like that? Like people that lived outside of your home.
Andrea Batchev: [00:08:50] Oh yeah. We didn't see some of my extended family for a while until after vaccinations already rolled out. And even then, with my grandparents, we still masked, around them for a long time. Like, even for, yeah, little gatherings or, like, outside.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:09:12] How different are your classes now compared to pre-COVID?
Andrea Batchev: [00:09:16] So I didn't take that many classes. I would say the grad school classes are really different from medical school classes. All the medical school classes were recorded online, and there wasn't really that, for me personally, there wasn't much interaction between me and, whoever was teaching a specific lecture or specific segment. Whereas definitely my graduate chemistry classes, there was a lot more interaction with, the, you know, teacher and the students. And, a lot of the classes had like built in kind of interactive learning things where, you know, work together on different problem sets. And I visited office hours and my grad classes. Yeah, just a lot more interaction post-Covid.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:10:02] Okay. And then the last question that I've really been enjoying asking people, it's a bit loaded, so you can take it from like an academic or career. Just a personal perspective. How has Covid shifted where you are today, or how has Covid kind of, determined where you are today?
Andrea Batchev: [00:10:20] Well, I actually it's one part of the reason that I picked to go to Wayne State. It was because of Covid. I didn't know what how long the pandemic was going to last for. I didn't know what it was going to look like. And how safe it would be to live you know, elsewhere without any family nearby. And since my family lived within driving distance of Wayne State, it was a big reason. Why I chose Wayne State so I could live at home. And also my. Program's eight years long and I wanted the support of a family nearby.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:10:53] Okay. And then one more that I meant to ask you earlier. Is there anything that you wish Wayne State would have done differently during Covid, or is there something that you really appreciate that they did like as far as Covid protocols or restrictions? Also, it's okay if there's like nothing you can really think of.
Andrea Batchev: [00:11:16] I kind of liked the online. I like that, yeah. A lot of medical students don't even, like, watch the faculty lectures anyways. Yeah, like it didn't really impact me that much. Except for I didn't get as much clinical experience as maybe I would have. But I don't know if that's, like. I felt like Wayne State did pretty decent with, you know, allowing us to go into clinics when clinics were ready to accept students again.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:11:43] Thank you. And then do you have any additional thoughts or questions?
Andrea Batchev: [00:11:49] No. I love Detroit.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:11:53] Okay. Sounds good.
Andrea Batchev: [00:00:14] Andrea Batchev.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:00:15] Okay. Thank you for doing this interview. So I want to start by asking what was your initial reaction to hearing about Covid when it was spreading and then when the lockdown finally happened?
Andrea Batchev: [00:00:26] I think I first heard about it in December, and I didn't really think too much of it. I was a senior in college in 2019. And yeah, when, you know, winter break and then shortly after in February, we started having more cases. And then the next thing. I knew, spring break was canceled. Oh, actually, it wasn't canceled or just extended, I guess. And then we just never went back.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:00:59] Where was undergrad for you?
Andrea Batchev: [00:01:02] The University of Oklahoma.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:01:03] Okay. And you are from ...you originally from Michigan?
Andrea Batchev: [00:01:07] Yeah, I'm from Downriver.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:01:09] Okay. So when you were in Oklahoma and then you had to come back to Michigan, what was that like?
Andrea Batchev: [00:01:15] I actually stayed in Oklahoma until, I started medical school at Wayne State. So I came back to Michigan mid July. And definitely I would say people, interacted with Covid very differently in Michigan than in Oklahoma. Oklahoma overall is a lot more spread out than Michigan. Smaller towns, different political demographics. I think Oklahoma, I would say people didn't mask as much or self-quarantine as much overall. So coming back to Michigan, it was a little bit different with everything being stricter and everything being closed down. And still not complete quarantining, but there were less events going on.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:02:17] And when you came back home, were you living with family?
Andrea Batchev: [00:02:20] Yeah, I lived with my family.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:02:21] Okay. What was that like?
Andrea Batchev: [00:02:23] It was kind of nice. Because I didn't have to worry. I didn't have to worry about finding an apartment. Or, some other housing. I didn't have to really worry about the safety of housing with the pandemic or, you know, the potential for disease spread. I could, you know, I was more self-contained. And I was able to do that pretty easily, too, since medical school was largely remote. And yeah, even though my parents live, like, 35 minutes away from campus, I really only needed to be on campus, like, a couple of times a week for anatomy lab the first semester until, November. All on campus activities were completely shut down with like a second wave of, quarantine after Thanksgiving spike. Expected Thanksgiving spike. It was also nice that I could save on rent. That was really nice.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:03:22] That's always nice.
Andrea Batchev: [00:03:23] It was super nice you know, I could, you know, come home to meals, you know, the grocery shop. Super. Super nice.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:03:32] Yeah. I like to ask that question because some people are like, I hated living at home again. And then other people are like, I actually like living at home because I got to save some money.
Andrea Batchev: [00:03:40] I do have to say that it was more isolating and the in the way that I didn't really know any of my peers until the second year of medical school and until activities resumed again. And there are some people who would say that, oh, like, no one knew each other, but definitely people who were in Detroit. And really in the same buildings or had the same friend groups were still like doing stuff and new people and making friends and connections. So yeah, it was a little bit more isolating.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:04:14] So for non-medical people, can you describe your department or just what you do at Wayne State?
Andrea Batchev: [00:04:21] So I am an MD, PhD, dual degree student. I describe it as a doctor sandwich, where the first two years, I complete the what's known as the preclinical years of medical school. It's a lot of book work. Anatomy lab, like some clinical involvement. And after the second year, you take Step One, which is a first board exam, and then you leave medical school to pursue a PhD in the middle, which lasts roughly four years. Once you finish all the requirements for a PhD and defend your dissertation, you go back to medical school for the last two years for clinical rotations and take the final board exam. And then graduate with two degrees and go on to either residency or postdoc or whatever afterwards.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:05:13] So you kind of talked about the transition from in-person to online. What was it like going back in-person and meeting all of these people that you'd been communicating with online, like during Covid?
Andrea Batchev: [00:05:25] So I still... I don't know. Well, even. So, my medical class is now graduated because I'm in the third year of my graduate degree and I definitely still, like, did not know everyone's name or face. There's like some people I've only heard of by name but never met before. I would say that when I started going back in person, it really wasn't that much in-person stuff. We had to do, was a clinical skills, but there's just, like, still kind of segregated out different groups for the last names and different time schedules. So there was only ike maybe like. 8 to 10 people at a time through that. We didn't have any of, like, the problem based learning sets that are usually in-person. We still had those all online. We were allowed to go into clinic for, was it a clinical experience or clerkship. But that's, that's not with other students. That's with a. Preceptor and, some sort of, some sort of practice. Yeah. So I don't really felt like I ever really was in person for medical school. It's almost entirely online for me. Yeah. On the other hand, starting graduate school was a more normal experience. All the classes were in person...I don't even know if we had to mask...For classes when I started.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:06:57] Yeah, I think they at least like on main campus, Wayne State started to lift a lot of their Covid restrictions fall of 2021. And then by winter 2022, it was like, you know, it was optional to do the campus screeners and wear a mask and stuff like that. But the next question that I wanted to ask you is, what kept you busy during lockdown?
Andrea Batchev: [00:07:25] I did a lot of outdoor activities, and I ran a lot. I biked a lot. I picked up a lot of hobbies. I started making sourdough bread. I taught myself how to play the ukulele. You know, caught up on a lot of Netflix shows. Too. During lockdown, I was living with roommates. At the time, so we all kind of, like, hung out together. And did things as well. As, I guess, roommates.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:07:58] What was it like living with roommates during Covid?
Andrea Batchev: [00:08:01] It was pretty easy. I lived with two roommates. One of them went home. It was really easy. There's not really too much there.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:08:12] What was it like interacting with your family when you came back home? What was it like interacting with your family that lived outside of your house during Covid?
Andrea Batchev: [00:08:20] It was pretty easy getting along with them, thankfully. I did lose the whole, like, you know, coming back home. You get that, like, week of privilege where they take you out to eat and, like, buy all the groceries you want, all your favorite foods. I kind of like lost that.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:08:34] But yeah. So I only asked that because a lot of people, they had like the zoom meetups with their family or like they would hang out in parks and be super far away from each other. Did you guys ever do anything like that? Like people that lived outside of your home.
Andrea Batchev: [00:08:50] Oh yeah. We didn't see some of my extended family for a while until after vaccinations already rolled out. And even then, with my grandparents, we still masked, around them for a long time. Like, even for, yeah, little gatherings or, like, outside.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:09:12] How different are your classes now compared to pre-COVID?
Andrea Batchev: [00:09:16] So I didn't take that many classes. I would say the grad school classes are really different from medical school classes. All the medical school classes were recorded online, and there wasn't really that, for me personally, there wasn't much interaction between me and, whoever was teaching a specific lecture or specific segment. Whereas definitely my graduate chemistry classes, there was a lot more interaction with, the, you know, teacher and the students. And, a lot of the classes had like built in kind of interactive learning things where, you know, work together on different problem sets. And I visited office hours and my grad classes. Yeah, just a lot more interaction post-Covid.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:10:02] Okay. And then the last question that I've really been enjoying asking people, it's a bit loaded, so you can take it from like an academic or career. Just a personal perspective. How has Covid shifted where you are today, or how has Covid kind of, determined where you are today?
Andrea Batchev: [00:10:20] Well, I actually it's one part of the reason that I picked to go to Wayne State. It was because of Covid. I didn't know what how long the pandemic was going to last for. I didn't know what it was going to look like. And how safe it would be to live you know, elsewhere without any family nearby. And since my family lived within driving distance of Wayne State, it was a big reason. Why I chose Wayne State so I could live at home. And also my. Program's eight years long and I wanted the support of a family nearby.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:10:53] Okay. And then one more that I meant to ask you earlier. Is there anything that you wish Wayne State would have done differently during Covid, or is there something that you really appreciate that they did like as far as Covid protocols or restrictions? Also, it's okay if there's like nothing you can really think of.
Andrea Batchev: [00:11:16] I kind of liked the online. I like that, yeah. A lot of medical students don't even, like, watch the faculty lectures anyways. Yeah, like it didn't really impact me that much. Except for I didn't get as much clinical experience as maybe I would have. But I don't know if that's, like. I felt like Wayne State did pretty decent with, you know, allowing us to go into clinics when clinics were ready to accept students again.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:11:43] Thank you. And then do you have any additional thoughts or questions?
Andrea Batchev: [00:11:49] No. I love Detroit.
Taylor Claybrook: [00:11:53] Okay. Sounds good.
Files
Collection
Citation
“Andrea Batchev, September 3rd, 2024,” Detroit Historical Society Oral History Archive, accessed February 8, 2025, https://oralhistory.detroithistorical.org/items/show/1065.