Introduction:

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused thousands of deaths and led to countless changes in the way health services and medical schools are organized around the world.

Experience report:

This article reports on the experience of the Botucatu Faculty of Medicine, UNESP, located in the interior of the state of São Paulo, where classes were suspended due to the pandemic.

Discussion:

The reasons for the suspension of internship classes and the procedures for their resumption, after 15 weeks, are described.

Conclusions:

The study highlights the importance of collective decisions, empathic communication, mental health care and attention and the partnership with the Hospital das Clínicas in performing track and trace for presence of the virus among the students. Finally, particular emphasis is given to the learning gained by teachers who found themselves feeling, on the one hand, powerless in the face of death and the unknown and, on the other, the strength of the care that can be offered in a situation as unique as the pandemic.

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